Issued  September  23, 1910. 


U.  S.  DEPARTMENT  OF  AGRICULTURE. 


FARMERS’  BULLETIN  417. 


RICE  CULTURE. 


BY 

S.  .A..  KNAPP, 

Special  Agent  tn  Charge  of  Farmers"  Cooperative  Demonstration  Work , 

Bureau  of  Plant  Industry . 


WASHINGTON: 

GOVERNMENT  PRINTING  OFFICE. 

1910. 


LETTER  OF  TRANSMITTAL. 


U.  S.  Department  of  Agriculture, 

Bureau  of  Plant  Industry, 

Office  of  the  Chief, 

W ashing  ton,  D.  C .,  July  29,  1910. 

Sir:  I  have  the  honor  to  transmit  herewith  and  to  recommend  for 
publication  as  a  Farmers'  Bulletin  a  manuscript  entitled  “  Rice 
Culture,”  by  Dr.  S.  A.  Knapp,  Special  Agent  in  Charge  of  Farmers’ 
Cooperative  Demonstration  Work,  this  being  a  revision  of  Farmers’ 
Bulletin  110,  issued  in  1900. 

Respectfully,  G.  H.  Powell, 

Acting  Chief  of  Bureau. 

Hon.  James  Wilson, 

Secretary  of  Agriculture. 

417 

2 


CONTENTS. 


Introduction . 

Varieties  of  rice . 

Varieties  grown  in  the  United  States 

Lowland  and  upland  rice . 

Production  and  importation  of  rice . 

Production . 

Imports . 

Rice-growing  sections . 

Soils  adapted  to  rice . 

Rice  lands . 

Delta  lands . 

Inland  marshes . 

Alluvial  lands . 

Prairie  lands . 

Lands  for  upland  rice . 

Irrigation . 

Size  of  fields . 

Canals  and  levees . 

Preparing  the  ground . 

Time  to  plow . . 

Deep  plowing . 

Drainage . 

Sowing . 

Selecting  the  seed . 

Time  to  sow . 

Amount  to  sow . 

Germination . 

Drilling . 

Broadcast  sowing . 

The  South  Carolina  method . 

Flooding . 

General  directions . 

The  practice  in  South  Carolina . 

Uniform  ripening . 

Fertilizing . 

Weedy  grasses . 

Hand  weeding . 

Mowing  and  burning  the  grasses _ 

Winter  flooding . 

Early  planting  and  mowing . 

Fall  plowing . 


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417 


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CONTENTS. 


Page. 

Red  rice .  18 

Remedies .  18 

Harvesting . 19 

Thrashing .  20 

The  question  of  labor .  20 

Yield  of  rice .  20 

Rice  milling .  21 

Object  of  milling .  21 

Primitive  methods .  21 

Modern  methods .  22 

Polishing .  23 

Hulling  machines .  23 

A  portable  mill . 23 

Effects  of  fashion  in  rice .  23 

Effect  of  polishing . 23 

Grades  and  prices .  24 

Losses  by  breakage .  24 

Rice  as  a  food .  25 

Results  of  analyses .  25 

Food  uses .  25 

By-products  of  rice  culture .  26 

Results  of  analyses .  26 

Straw .  26 

Rice  hulls .  26 

Hull  ashes .  26 

Rice  polish .  27 

Rice  cultivation  in  southwestern  Louisiana  and  southeastern  Texas .  27 

Methods  of  culture  revolutionized .  27 

Irrigation .  28 

Pumping  water  from  streams .  28 

Canals  for  irrigation .  28 

Deep  wells  for  irrigation .  29 

Harvesting  and  thrashing .  29 

Prospects  for  the  extension  of  the  rice  industry .  30 

417 


B.  P.  I.— 604. 


CULTURE. 


INTRODUCTION. 

Rice  forms  the  principal  food  of  one-half  the  population  of  the 
earth.  It  is  more  widely  and  generally  used  as  a  food  material  than 
any  other  cereal.  Where  dense  populations  are  dependent  for  food 
upon  an  annual  crop,  and  the  climate  permits  its  cultivation,  rice  has 
been  selected  as  the  staple  food.  The  luxuriant  growth  of  leguminous 
plants  (beans,  peas,  etc.)  at  all  seasons  in  tropical  climates  provides 
the  nitrogenous  food  elements  necessary  to  supplement  rice.  A  com¬ 
bination  of  rice  and  legumes  is  a  much  cheaper  complete  food  ration 
than  wheat  and  meat  and  can  be  produced  on  a  much  smaller  area. 

VARIETIES  0E  RICE. 

Rice  is  an  annual  plant  belonging  to  the  natural  family  of  the 
grasses.  There  is  an  immense  number  of  varieties  of  cultivated  rice, 
differing  in  length  of  the  season  required  for  maturing,  and  in  char¬ 
acter,  yield,  and  quality.  Their  divergence  not  only  extends  to  size, 
shape,  and  color  of  the  grain,  but  to  the  relative  proportion  of  food 
constituents  and  the  consequent  flavor.  South  Carolina  and  Japan 
rices  are  rich  in  fats,  and  hence  are  ranked  high  in  flavor  and  nutri¬ 
tion  among  rice-eating  nations.  A  botanical  catalogue  enumerates 
161  varieties  found  in  Ceylon  alone,  while  in  Japan,  China,  and  India, 
where  its  cultivation  has  gone  on  for  centuries,  and  where  great  care 
is  usually  taken  in  the  improvement  of  varieties  by  the  selection  of 
seed,  no  less  than  1,400  varieties  are  said  to  exist. 

Varieties  grown  in  the  United  States. — The  two  principal  varieties  of 
lowland  rice  cultivated  in  the  Atlantic  States  are  the  “  gold  seed,”  so 
called  from  the  golden-yellow  color  of  its  husk  when  ripe,  and  the 
“  white  ”  rice,  the  original  rice  introduced  into  this  country  in  1694, 
which  has  a  cream-colored  husk  and  resembles'  the  rice  commonly 
grown  in  China. 

The  gold-seed  rice,  justly  famous  for  the  quality  and  large  yield  of 
the  grain,  stands,  in  the  estimation  of  the  market,  among  the  first 

417  5 


6 


RICE  CULTURE. 


rices  in  the  world.  Along  the  Atlantic  coast  it  has  practically  super¬ 
seded  the  white  rice  which  was  generally  cultivated  in  the  earlier 
periods  of  the  industry.  The  two  varieties  of  gold-seed  rice  appear  to 
differ  little  except  that  one  has  a  slightly  larger  grain  than  the  other. 
White  rice  is  valued  for  its  early  maturity. 

The  principal  varieties  planted  in  Louisiana  are  the  Honduras, 
named  from  the  country  which  originally  furnished  the  seed,  and  the 
more  recently  introduced  Japan  varieties.  The  Honduras  is  similar 
in  general  appearance  and  character  to  that  of  the  Carolina  rice,  but 
it  differs  somewhat  in  quality  of  grain  and  the  general  growth  of  the 
plant.  The  Japan  varieties  have  a  short,  thick  kernel  and  a  thin 
hull ;  the  percentage  of  bran  and  polish  is  generally  small ;  the  straw 
is  green  when  the  grain  is  ripe,  and  the  yield  is  generally  large.  The 
Kiushu  is  probably  the  best  of  the  Japan  varieties  ever  introduced 
into  the  United  States. 

Lowland  and  upland  rice. — While  rice  is  chiefly  grown  on  lands  that 
are  low,  level,  and  easily  irrigated,  there  are  varieties  which  can  be 
grown  on  fertile  uplands  without  irrigation.  In  the  interior  districts 
of  India,  China,  and  Japan  upland  rice  is  grown  to  a  considerable 
extent,  and  experiments  have  demonstrated  that  it  can  be  grown  over 
large  areas  in  the  United  States,  but  the  crop  is  uncertain  and  in 
yield  and  quality  considerably  inferior  to  lowland  rice  produced  by 
irrigation. 

PRODUCTION  AND  IMPORTATION  OF  RICE. 

Production. — The  present  annual  production  of  rice  in  the  United 
States  is  generally  slightly  less  than  the  consumption.  Even  should 
our  production  equal  our  consumption,  it  is  probable  that  a  certain 
amount  of  rice  would  be  imported  by  people  who  prefer  the  rice  of 
their  native  countries.  The  Chinese,  the  Japanese,  and  the  Italians 
import  annually  a  certain  amount  for  their  oavh  consumption,  gen¬ 
erally  preferring  not  only  the  variety  but  the  method  of  milling  and 
preparing  rice  for  market  in  their  respective  countries. 


Table  I. — Annual  average  marketed  production  of  cleaned  rice  in  the  United 

States  from  1851  to  1880,  Oy  decades. 

[From  statistics  of  Dan  Talmage's  Sons  Co.] 


Periods. 

North  and 
South  Carolina. 

Georgia. 

Louisiana. 

Total. 

1851-1860  . 

Pounds. 

84, 359, 340 
a  16, 185, 857 
29, 024,  040 

Pounds. 

18, 610, 320 
b  11, 107,880 
16, 247, 340 

Pounds. 

Pounds. 

102, 969, 660 

1861-1870  . 

5, 734, 655 
29, 630, 274 

1871-1880  . 

74,901,654 

“Average  for  seven  years  only,  no  production  having  been  reported  for  1861  to  1863. 
^Average  for  five  years  only,  no  production  having  been  reported  for  1861  to  1865. 

417 


RICE  CULTURE. 


7 


Production  of  rough  vice  in  the  United  States  in  1909,  hy  States. 


Bushels. 


North  Carolina _  13,  000 

South  Carolina _  476,  000 

Georgia _  100,  000 

Florida _  25,  000 

Alabama _ _ _  35,  000 

Mississippi _  30,  000 


Bushels. 

Louisiana _  12,  675,  000 

Texas _  9,  894,  000 

Arkansas _  1, 120,  000 


Total,  nine  States _  24,  368,  000 


The  total  production  of  these  nine  States  is  equivalent  to  about 
668,901,600  pounds  of  cleaned  rice. 

Imports. — The  annual  imports  of  cleaned  rice  into  the  United  States 
for  the  fiscal  years  1894  to  1899  averaged  120,648,311  pounds,  and 
the  imports  of  broken  rice,  flour,  and  meal  62,806,603  pounds,  the 
whole  having  an  average  value  of  $3,200,011.  The  annual  importa¬ 
tion  of  rice  of  all  varieties  from  1905  to  1909,  inclusive,  amounted  to 
183,663,693  pounds,  of  which  69,912,819  pounds  were  for  food  pur¬ 
poses.  From  the  above  it  will  appear  that  the  production  of  rice  in 
this  country  can  be  considerably  increased  before  the  home  market  will 
be  supplied. 

The  tariff  on  the  various  grades  of  rice  imported  into  the  United 
States  ranges  from  one-fourth  of  1  cent  per  pound  on  rice  flour  to  2 
cents  on  cleaned  rice. 


RICE-GROWING  SECTIONS. 

Rice  production  in  the  United  States  is  limited  to  the  South  At¬ 
lantic  and  Gulf  States,  where,  in  some  sections,  it  is  the  principal 
cereal  product.  For  nearly  one  hundred  and  ninety  years  after  the 
introduction  of  rice  into  the  United  States,  South  Carolina  and 
Georgia  produced  the  principal  portion,  while  North  Carolina,  Flor¬ 
ida,  Alabama,  Mississippi,  and  Louisiana  grew  only  a  limited  amount. 
Within  the  last  ten  years  Louisiana,  Texas,  and  Arkansas  have  in¬ 
creased  the  area  devoted  to  rice  to  such  an  extent  that  they  now 
furnish  more  than  three-fourths  of  all  the  product  of  the  country. 

For  fifteen  years  prior  to  1861  the  annual  production  of  rice  in 
North  Carolina,  South  Carolina,  and  Georgia  had  averaged  more 
than  105,000,000  pounds  of  cleaned  rice.  Of  this,  South  Carolina 
produced  more  than  three-fourths.  But  the  industry  in  these  States 
was  wrecked  by  the  war,  and  changed  labor  conditions,  lack  of  neces¬ 
sary  capital,  and  other  causes  have  since  prevented  its  full  restora¬ 
tion.  From  1866  to  1880,  inclusive,  the  annual  production  of  the 
three  States  averaged  a  little  less  than  41,000,000  pounds,  of  which 
South  Carolina  produced  more  than  one-half. 

Coincident  with  the  breaking  out  of  the  civil  war  began  the  devel¬ 
opment  of  the  rice  industry  in  Louisiana.  For  a  number  of  years 
the  product  was  small,  but  during  the  seventies  the  industry  began 
to  assume  large  proportions,  averaging  nearly  30,000,000  pounds  for 

417 


8 


RICE  CULTURE. 


the  decade  and  exceeding  51,000,000  pounds  in  1880.  In  1885  the 
production  of  rice  in  Louisiana  reached  100,000,000  pounds,  and  in 
1892,  182,000,000  pounds;  but  these  were  years  of  exceptionally  large 
crops. 

The  great  development  of  the  rice  industry  in  Louisiana  since  1884 
has  resulted  from  the  opening  up  of  a  prairie  region  in  the  south¬ 
western  part  of  the  State  and  the  development  of  a  system  of  irri¬ 
gation  and  culture  which  made  possible  the  use  of  harvesting  ma¬ 
chinery  similar  to  that  used  in  the  wheat  fields  of  the  Northwest, 
thereby  greatly  lessening  the  cost  of  production.  In  1896,  however, 
a  new  difficulty  began  to  be  heavily  felt.  The  varieties  of  rice  which 
yielded  best  and  were  otherwise  most  satisfactory  from  a  cultural 
standpoint  under  the  new  system  proved  inferior  commercially  be¬ 
cause  the  percentage  of  grains  broken  in  the  process  of  milling  was 
very  large,  and  the  proportion  of  “  head  rice,”  made  up  of  the  un¬ 
broken  grains,  was  low.  As  the  Japanese  rices  possess  superior  mill¬ 
ing  qualities,  yielding  a  high  percentage  of  head  rice,  it  was  desir¬ 
able  that  they  should  be  experimented  with  in  this  country.  With 
this  idea  in  view,  the  Department  of  Agriculture,  in  the  spring  of 
1899,  imported  from  Japan  about  10  tons  of  Kiushu  rice,  which  was 
distributed  to  experimenters  in  southwestern  Louisiana,  and  else¬ 
where  in  the  rice  belt. 

*  SOILS  ADAPTED  TO  RICE. 

The  best  soil  for  rice  is  a  medium  loam,  containing  about  50  per  cent 
of  clay.  This  allows  the  presence  of  sufficient  humus  for  the  highest 
fertility  without  decreasing  too  much  the  compact  nature  of  the  soil. 
The  alluvial  lands  along  the  southern  rivers,  where  they  can  be 
drained,  are  well  adapted  to  rice  cultivation.  Occasionally  such  lands 
are  too  sandy.  The  rich  drift  soils  of  the  Louisiana  and  Texas  prai¬ 
ries  have  shown  a  marvelous  adaptation  to  rice.  These  soils  are 
underlain  with  clay  so  as  to  be  retentive  of  water.  The  sand  is  ex¬ 
ceedingly  fine.  There  is  about  the  right  proportion  of  potash,  phos¬ 
phoric  acid,  and  other  essential  mineral  elements,  with  humus,  to  be 
lastingly  productive. 

Showing  its  wide  range  of  adaptation,  rice  from  the  same  sack  has 
been  planted  in  moist  land  and  flooded,  in  cultivated  upland  fields, 
and  on  levees  18  inches  above  the  water ;  and  for  a  time  it  grew  with 
almost  equal  vigor  in  each  of  these  situations.  The  principal  differ¬ 
ence  appeared  in  the  maturing  of  the  seed.  Trials  have  been  made 
with  soils  covered  with  a  large  amount  of  decayed  vegetation.  The 
results  were  generally  disappointing.  The  roots  of  the  rice,  being 
shallow  feeders,  did  not  gain  much  hold  upon  the  soil,  and  the  de¬ 
cayed  vegetation  was  not  adapted  to  the  rice  plant.  Rice  has  gen¬ 
erally  failed  on  peaty  soils.  Among  the  best  rice  lands  of  south- 
417 


RICE  CULTURE. 


9 


eastern  Louisiana  are  the  so-called  buckshot-clay  lands,  which  are  so 
stiff  that  they  can  hardly  be  plowed  unless  first  flooded  to  soften 
them  up. 

The  best  rice  lands  are  underlain  by  a  semi-impervious  subsoil. 
Otherwise  the  land  can  not  be  satisfactorily  drained  at  time  of  harvest 
in  order  to  permit  the  use  of  improved  harvesting  machinery.  The 
alluvial  lands  along  the  Mississippi  River  in  Louisiana  are  not  under¬ 
lain  by  hardpan,  and  they  can  not  be  drained  sufficiently  to  permit  the 
use  of  heavy  harvesters  and  teams  of  horses. 

Gravelly  or  sandy  soils  are  not  adapted  to  rice  cultivation  because 
they  do  not  possess  the  mechanical  conditions  for  the  retention  of 
water,  and  for  other  reasons  above  mentioned.  Occasionally,  on  a 
light  sandy  soil,  underlain  by  a  stiff  subsoil,  one  or  two  fairly  good 
crops  of  rice  may  be  grown,  but  this  is  the  limit. 

RICE  LANDS. 

Delta  lands. — A  large  proportion  of  the  rice  grown  in  South  Carolina 
and  Georgia  is  produced  on  tidal  deltas.  A  body  of  land  along  some 
river  and  sufficiently  remote  from  the  sea  to  be  free  from  salt  water  is 
selected  with  reference  to  the  possibility  of  flooding  it  from  the  river 
at  high  tide  and  of  draining  it  at  low  tide.  Lands  of  this  class  are 
also  planted  to  rice  in  southern  Louisiana. 

Inland  marshes. — Some  excellent  marshes  are  found  in  South  Caro¬ 
lina  and  Georgia  upon  what  may  relatively  be  termed  high  land. 
These  are  in  most  cases  easily  drained  and  in  many  instances  can  be 
irrigated  from  some  convenient  stream.  The  objection  that  planters 
have  found  to  such  tracts  is  that  the  water  supply  is  unreliable  and  not 
uniform  in  temperature.  In  case  of  drought  the  supply  may  be  in¬ 
sufficient  ;  in  case  of  freshets  the  water  is  too  cold.  To  obviate  these 
objections  reservoirs  are  sometimes  constructed,  but  they  are  expen¬ 
sive,  owing  to  loss  by  the  evaporation  from  such  a  large  exposed 
surface.  However,  where  all  the  conditions  are  favorable,  it  costs 
less  to  improve  these  inland  marshes  than  the  delta  lands,  and  the 
results  are  fairly  remunerative. 

Alluvial  lands. — In  eastern  Louisiana  rice  is  grown  largely  on  low 
lands  which  were  once  used  as  sugar  plantations;  also  on  the  well- 
drained  alluvial  lands  farther  up  the  Mississippi. 

Prairie  lands. — In  southwestern  Louisiana  and  southeastern  Texas  is 
a  large  area  of  comparatively  level  prairie  land  which  has  only 
within  recent  years  been  devoted  to  rice  growing;  These  lands  are  a 
sufficient  distance  from  the  coast  to  be  free  from  devastating  storms 
and  the  serious  attack  of  birds.  No  expensive  clearing,  ditching,  or 
leveeing  is  needed  to  prepare  the  lands  for  rice.  The  drainage  is 
56091°— Bull.  417—10 - 2 


10 


RICE  CULTURE. 


good  and  the  lands  can  be  cultivated  to  winter  crops,  thus  preventing 
the  growth  of  red  rice  and  injurious  weeds  and  grasses.  Such  culti¬ 
vation  enables  the  planter  to  plow  deeply  in  the  fall  and  to  fertilize. 
Plowing  when  done  in  the  spring  should  be  shallow.  Here  the 
methods  of  irrigation  and  culture  are  so  different  from  those  employed 
elsewhere  as  to  deserve  special  treatment.  (See  page  27.) 

Lands  for  upland  rice. — The  lands  which  are,  or  may  be,  devoted  to 
growing  rice  without  irrigation  are  so  varied  in  character  and  location 
that  no  description  can  be  given.  In  general  it  may  be  said  that  rice 
can  be  grown  on  any  soil  adapted  to  wheat  or  cotton  provided  climatic 
conditions  are  favorable.  Rice  is  sometimes  planted  between  the  rows 
of  cotton. 

IRRIGATION. 

Size  of  fields. — In  rice  culture  the  size  of  the  fields  depends  on  circum¬ 
stances,  chief  among  which  are  the  slope  of  the  land  and  the  character 
of  the  soil  as  regards  drainage.  Fields  range  in  size  from  60  to  80 
acres  on  the  level  prairies  of  southwestern  Louisiana  down  to  1  or  2 
acres  along  the  banks  of  the  Mississippi  River.  In  oriental  countries 
fields  seldom  contain  more  than  a  half  acre.  The  entire  surface  of 
each  field  should  be  nearly  at  the  same  level  so  that  the  irrigation 
water  will  stand  at  about  the  same  depth.  Hence,  where  the  slope  of 
the  surface  is  considerable,  the  fields  must  be  made  small.  Fields 
must  also  be  laid  off  in  such  a  manner  as  to  admit  of  effective  drainage. 

Canals  and  levees. — In  coast-marsh  and  river-bottom  culture  a  canal  is 
excavated  on  the  outer  rim  of  the  tract  selected,  completely  inclosing 
it.  The  excavated  dirt  is  thrown  upon  the  outer  bank  to  form  a  levee. 
The  canal  must  be  of  sufficient  capacity  for  irrigation  and  drainage. 
The  levee  must  be  sufficient  not  only  to  inclose  the  flooding  water,  but 
to  protect  the  fields  from  the  encroachment  of  the  river  at  all  seasons. 
When  practicable  the  rice  lands  are  flooded  from  the  river,  and  find 
drainage  by  a  canal  or  subsidiary  stream  that  enters  the  river  at  a 
lower  level.  The  embankment  must  be  sufficient  to  protect  the  rice 
against  either  freshets  or  salt  water.  Freshets  are  injurious  to  grow¬ 
ing  rice,  not  only  because  of  the  volume  of  water,  but  by  reason  of  its 
temperature.  A  great  body  of  water  descending  rapidly  from  the 
mountains  to  the  sea  is  several  degrees  colder  than  water  under  the 
ordinary  flow.  Any  large  amount  of  this  cold  water  admitted  to  the 
field  not  only  retards  the  growth,  but  is  a  positive  injury  to  the  crop. 
In  periods  of  continued  drought  the  salt  water  of  the  sea  frequently 
ascends  the  river  a  considerable  distance.  Slightly  brackish  water  is 
not  injurious  to  rice,  but  salt  water  is  destructive. 

The  tract  of  land  selected  and  inclosed  is  then  cut  up  by  smaller 
canals  into  fields  or  subfields  of  suitable  size,  a  small  levee  being 
417 


RICE  CULTURE. 


11 


thrown  up  on  the  borders  of  each.  The  entire  tract  is  usually  level, 
but  if  there  should  be  any  inequality  care  must  be  taken  that  the  sur¬ 
face  of  each  subfield  be  level.  The  main  canal  is  10  to  30  feet  wide, 
about  4  feet  deep,  and  connects  with  the  river  by  flood  gates.  Through 
these  canals  boats  of  considerable  tonnage  have  ready  access  to  the 
entire  circuit  of  the  tract,  while  smaller  boats  can  pass  along  the  sub¬ 
canals  to  the  several  fields.  The  subcanals  are  usually  from  6  to  10 
feet  in  width  and  should  be  nearly  as  deep  as  the  main  canal. 

During  the  flooding  period  the  ditches  and  canals  become  more  or 
less  filled  by  the  mud  which  flows  into  them  with  the  water.  As  soon 
after  harvest  as  possible  the  ditch  banks  should  be  cleared  of  foul 
grasses,  weeds,  or  brush,  and  the  ditches  cleaned.  The  levees  should 
be  examined  to  see  if  they  are  in  repair. 

The  entirely  different  method  employed  in  the  prairie  region  of 
southwestern  Louisiana  and  adjacent  Texas  is  described  on  pages 
27  to  29. 

PREPARING  THE  GROUND. 

Time  to  plow. — The  time  of  plowing  differs  with  different  lands  and 
circumstances,  but  in  general  it  may  be  said  that  for  wet  culture 
plowing  is  done  in  the  spring  shortly  before  planting  time.  In  the 
South  Atlantic  States,  however,  the  land  is  often  plowed  or  dug  over 
with  a  hoe  early  in  the  winter.  In  some  parts  of  southern  Louisiana 
the  land  is  so  low  and  wet  and  the  soil  so  stiff  as  to  necessitate  plow¬ 
ing  in  the  water. 

Deep  plowing. — Some  planters  advocate  shallow  plowing  for  rice, 
because  it  appears  to  thrive  best  in  compact  earth.  Even  if  this  be 
granted,  it  does  not  prove  the  superiority  of  shallow  over  deep  plow¬ 
ing.  It  has  been  demonstrated  that  the  better  the  soil  and  the  more 
thoroughly  it  is  pulverized  the  better  the  crop.  The  roots  of  annual 
cultivated  plants  do  not  feed  much  below  the  plow  line;  it  is  there¬ 
fore  evident  that  deep  cultivation  places  more  food  within  the 
reach  of  the  plant.  If  pulverizing  the  earth  deeply  be  a  disadvantage, 
by  reason  of  the  too  great  porosity  of  the  soil  at  seeding  time,  it  can 
be  easily  remedied  by  the  subsequent  use  of  a  heavy  roller.  If  the 
soil  is  well  drained  deep  plowing  will  be  found  profitable.  Deep 
plowing  just  before  planting  sometimes  brings  too  much  alkali  to 
the  surface.  The  remedy  for  this  is  to  plow  a  little  deeper  than  the 
previous  plowings  just  after  harvest.  The  alkali  will  then  be  washed 
out  before  the  spring  plowing.  The  plow  should  be  followed  in  a 
short  time  by  the  disk  harrow  and  then  by  the  smoothing  harrow. 
If  the  land  is  allowed  to  remain  in  furrows  for  any  considerable 
time  it  will  bake  and  can  not  be  brought  into  that  fine  tilth  so  neces¬ 
sary  to  the  best  seed  conditions.  This  is  particularly  true  of  rice 
417 


12 


RICE  CULTURE. 


land.  If  the  best  results  are  desired  it  will  be  advisable  to  follow 
the  harrow  with  a  heavy  roller.  The  roller  will  crush  the  lumps, 
make  the  soil  more  compact,  and  conserve  the  moisture  for  germinat¬ 
ing  the  grain,  rendering  it  unnecessary  to  flood  for  “  sprouting.” 

For  dry  culture  the  land  is  prepared  very  much  as  it  is  for  a  crop 
of  oats. 

DRAINAGE. 

Perfect  drainage  is  one  of  the  most  important  considerations  in 
rice  farming,  because  upon  it  depends  the  proper  condition  of  the 
soil  for  planting.  It  may  appear  unimportant  that  a  water  plant 
like  rice  should  have  aerated  and  finely  pulverized  soil  for  the  seed 
bed,  but  such  is  the  case.  Thorough  cultivation  seems  to  be  as  bene¬ 
ficial  to  rice  as  to  wheat.  Complete  and  rapid  drainage  at  harvest 
time  allows  the  crop  to  be  reaped  under  the  best  conditions  and 
reduces  the  expense  of  the  harvest. 

Thorough  drainage  is  even  more  essential  for  rice  than  for  wheat, 
because  irrigation  brings  the  alkali  to  the  surface  to  an  extent  that 
finally  becomes  detrimental  to  the  rice  plant.  Alkali  sometimes  ac¬ 
cumulates  in  the  soil  just  below  the  depth  of  the  usual -furrow  to 
such  an  extent  that  any  plowing  is  dangerous  to  the  crop.  Experi¬ 
ence  has  shown  that  there  is  but  one  effective  way  of  disposing  of 
these  salts,  and  that  is  by  thorough  drainage  and  deep  plowing.  As 
the  water  drains  away  the  excess  of  soluble  salts  is  carried  off.  Now 
if  the  ditches  are  no  deeper  than  the  ordinary  furrow  it  is  evident 
that  only  the  surface  of  the  soil  can  be  cleared.  Either  tiling  must 
be  employed  or  there  must  be  plenty  of  open  ditches,  the  main  ones 
at  least  3  feet  deep. 

Where  the  lands  can  not  be  thoroughly  drained  after  the  crop  has 
matured  there  is  liable  to  be  an  encroachment  of  water  grasses  which 
will  grow  so  rapidly  during  the  winter  that  they  almost  fully  possess 
the  field.  If  the  soil  can  be  drained  sufficiently  to  enable  the  planter 
to  put  in  a  winter  cover  crop  it  will  be  found  exceedingly  profitable, 
in  addition  to  preventing  the  establishment  of  these  injurious  grasses. 

SOWING. 

Selecting  the  seed. — Too  great  care  can  not  be  exercised  in  selecting 
rice  for  seed.  It  is  indispensable  that  the  seed  should  be  free  from 
red  rice,  grass,  and  weed  seeds,  uniform  in  quality  and  size  of  kernel, 
well  filled,  flinty,  and  free  from  sun  cracks.  Uniformity  of  kernel  is 
more  essential  in  rice  than  in  other  cereals,  because  of  the  polishing 
process. 

Time  to  sow. — The  best  time  to  sow  rice  differs  in  different  sections 
and  varies  somewhat  with  varying  conditions  in  the  same  section.  It 

417 


RICE  CULTURE. 


13 


may  be  sown  between  the  middle  of  March  and  the  middle  of  May, 
but  in  most  cases  it  should  be  sown  by  April  20  for  best  results. 
Sowing  should  take  place  as  soon  as  possible  after  spring  plowing. 
Care  must  be  taken  to  plant  the  several  fields  at  different  periods,  so 
that  harvest  will  not  be  too  crowded. 

Amount  to  sow. — The  amount  of  rice  sown  per  acre  varies  in  differ¬ 
ent  sections  and  with  different  methods  of  sowing,  from  1  to  3  bushels 
per  acre  being  used. 

Germination. — Three  different  methods  of  treating  the  seed  are  fol¬ 
lowed.  Some  let  on  just  enough  water  to  saturate  the  ground  imme¬ 
diately  after  sowing  and  harrowing  and  at  once  draw  off  any  surplus 
water.  This  insures  the  germination  of  the  seed.  Others  sow  and 
trust  to  there  being  sufficient  moisture  in  the  land  to  germinate  the 
seed.  This  is  sometimes  uncertain  and  rarely  produces  the  best 
results.  A  few  sprout  the  seed  before  planting  by  placing  bags  of 
rice  in  water.  This  is  sure  to  be  a  failure  if  the  soil  is  very  dry  when 
the  seed  is  sown.  In  case  of  planting  in  dry  soil  without  following 
with  water  saturation,  rolling  the  -land  after  seeding  and  harrowing 
has  been  found  beneficial. 

Drilling. — -The  rice  should  be  planted  with  a  drill.  It  will  be  more 
equally  distributed  and  the  quantity  used  to  the  acre  will  be  exact. 
The  seeds  will  be  planted  at  a  uniform  depth  and  the  earth  packed 
over  them  by  the  drill  roller.  It  also  prevents  the  birds  from  taking 
the  seeds.  The  roller  should  precede  the  drill.  If  it  follows  the  drill 
the  feet  of  the  horses,  mules,  or  oxen  drawing  the  roller  will  press 
some  of  the  planted  rice  4  or  5  inches  deeper  into  the  earth  than  the 
general  average.  Furthermore,  the  lumps  of  earth  will  prevent  the 
uniform  operation  of  the  drill.  In  rice  farming  too  much  emphasis 
can  not  be  placed  upon  the  importance  of  thoroughly  pulverizing  the 
soil  to  a  considerable  depth;  leveling  with  a  harrow  as  perfectly  as 
possible;  crushing  all  the  lumps  and  packing  the  surface  to  conserve 
the  moisture ;  and  planting  the  seed  at  a  uniform  depth. 

Broadcast  sowing. — Broadcast  sowing  of  rice  is  the  method  most  in 
vogue  in  many  localities,  but  it  should  be  discontinued;  the  seed  is 
never  scattered  with  uniformity;  some  grains  remain  upon  the  sur¬ 
face  and  the  remainder  is  buried  by  the  harrow  and  the  tramp  of 
the  teams  to  depths  varying  from  1  to  6  inches.  Bice  sown  broad¬ 
cast  does  not  germinate  with  any  uniformity.  Some  seeds  are  taken 
by  the  birds,  some  are  too  near  the  surface  and  lack  moisture  to 
germinate,  while  others  are  buried  too  deep.  In  some  instances  the 
variation  in  the  germination  of  the  rice  in  the  same  field  has  been 
as  much  as  eight  weeks.  Then  at  the  harvest  when  the  main  portion 
is  ready  for  the  reaper  a  good  deal  of  the  rice  is  still  immature.  The 
product  commands  a  very  low  price  in  the  market,  because  the  mer- 

417 


14 


BICE  CULTURE. 


charitable  grain  must  sell  at  the  price  of  the  low  grade.  It  requires 
much  more  care  to  produce  a  strictly  first-class  quality  of  rice  than  is 
found  necessary  in  the  production  of  any  other  cereal,  and  nearly 
every  fall  prime  offerings  are  the  exception. 

The  South  Carolina  method. — Seeding  in  South  Carolina  commences 
in  April  and  continues  nearly  to  the  middle  of  May.  Just  prior  to 
seeding  the  land  is  thoroughly  harrowed,  all  clods  pulverized,  and 
the  surface  smoothed.  Trenches  12  inches  apart  and  2  to  3  inches 
deep  are  made  with  4-inch  trenching  hoes  at  right  angles  to  the 
drains,  and  the  seed  is  dropped  in  these.  This  is  usually  covered, 
but  occasionally  a  planter,  to  save  labor,  stirs  the  seed  in  clayed 
water,  enough  clay  adhering  to  the  kernels  to  prevent  their  floating 
away  when  the  water  is  admitted.  Great  attention  is  paid  to  the 
selection  of  good  seed. 

FLOODING. 

Flooding  is  the  most  important  distinctive  feature  of  rice  culture 
as  compared  with  the  culture  of  cereals  generally.  When  it  is  con¬ 
sidered  that  rice  can  be  grown  successfully  without  any  irrigation 
whatever,  or  with  continuous  irrigation  from  the  time  of  sowing  till 
nearly  ripe,  the  wide  scope  there  is  for  variation  in  practice  will  be 
realized. 

General  directions. — Except  where  water  is  necessary  for  germinat¬ 
ing  the  seed,  flooding  is  not  practiced  until  the  rice  is  6  to  8  inches 
high.  If  showers  are  abundant  enough  to  keep  the  soil  moist  it  is 
better  to  delay  flooding  till  the  rice  is  8  inches  high,  as  there  is  con¬ 
siderable  danger  of  scalding  the  rice  when  very  young.  At  8  inches 
high  a  sufficient  depth  of  water  can  be  allowed  on  the  field  to  pre¬ 
vent  scalding.  The  depth  of  water  that  should  be  maintained  from 
the  first  flooding  until  it  is  withdrawn  for  the  harvest  depends  upon 
other  conditions.  If  the  growing  crop  thoroughly  shades  the  land, 
just  enough  water  to  keep  the  soil  saturated  will  answer.  To  be  safe, 
however,  for  all  portions  of  the  field,  it  should  stand  3  to  6  inches 
deep,  and,  to  avoid  stagnation,  it  should  be  renewed  by  a  continuous 
inflow  and  outflow.  In  case  the  stand  of  rice  is  thin  the  water  should 
be  deeper.  A  flow  of  water  through  the  field  aids  in  keeping  the 
body  of  the  water  cool  and  in  preventing  the  growth  of  injurious 
plants  that  thrive  in  the  stagnant  water.  The  water  should  stand  at 
uniform  depth  all  over  the  field.  Unequal  depths  of  water  will 
cause  the  crop  to  ripen  at  different  times. 

Where  the  lands  are  sufficiently  level  and  have  excellent  drainage 
the  tillering  of  the  rice  can  be  greatly  facilitated  by  keeping  the  soil 
saturated  with  water  but  not  allowing  enough  to  cover  the  surface. 
In  this  way  the  crop  is  frequently  nearly  double  what  it  would  be  if 

417 


EICE  CULTURE. 


15 


allowed  to  grow  dry  until  tall  enough  to  flood  or  if  flooded  before 
fully  tillered. 

The  practice  in  South  Carolina. — Under  the  usual  method  the  water  is 
let  on  as  soon  as  the  seed  is  covered,  and  remains  on  four  to  six  days, 
till  the  grain  is  well  sprouted.  It  is  then  withdrawn.  As  soon  as  the 
blade  is  up  a  few  inches  the  water  is  sometimes  put  on  for  a  few  days 
and  again  withdrawn.  The  first  water  is  locally  called  the  “  sprout 
water.”  After  the  rice  has  two  leaves  the  so-called  “  stretch  water,”  or 
“  long-point  flow,”  is  put  on.  At  first  it  is  allowed  to  be  deep  enough 
to  cover  the  rice  completely — generally  from  10  to  12  inches — then  it  is 
gradually  drawn  down  to  about  6  inches,  where  it  is  held  twent}^  to 
thirty  days.  It  is  then  withdrawn  and  the  field  allowed  to  dry.  When 
the  field  is  sufficiently  dry  the  rice  is  hoed  thoroughly,  all  grass  and 
“  volunteer  ”  rice  being  carefully  removed.  After  hoeing,  it  remains 
without  irrigation  until  jointing  commences,  when  it  is  slightly  hoed, 
care  being  used  to  prevent  injury  to  the  plants,  and  the  water  is  then 
turned  on  again.  During  the  time  water  is  held  on  the  rice  it  is 
changed  at  least  every  Aveek  to  avoid  its  becoming  stagnant.  When 
this  occurs  rice  is  liable  to  be  troubled  with  the  water  weevil.  This 
“  lay-by  flow,”  or  final  irrigation,  continues  until  about  eight  days 
before  the  harvest,  when  the  water  is  drawn  off  for  the  field  to  dry. 

UNIFORM  RIPENING. 

The  planter  should  particularly  note  the  importance  of  not  making 
the  fields  too  large.  It  impedes  complete  drainage.  It  is  inconvenient 
to  have  large  ditches  intersecting  the  fields.  The  simultaneous  matu¬ 
rity  of  all  portions  of  the  field  is  desirable  if  it  is  to  be  cut  with  a 
twine  binder.  This  can  be  secured  by  uniform  and  good  drainage,  by 
ploAving,  harrowing,  planting,  and  rolling  the  same  day,  and  by 
planting  the  seed  equally  deep  and  distributing  it  evenly.  No  field 
should  be  so  large  that  the  work  of  planting  can  not  be  completed 
Avithin  three  or  four  days.  The  flooding  water  must  stand  in  all  por¬ 
tions  of  the  field  at  equal  depth  and  temperature. 

Rice  should  be  cut  when  the  straAv  has  barely  commenced  to  yellow. 
If  cutting  is  delayed  till  the  straAv  shows  yelloAV  to  the  top  the  grain 
is  reduced  in  quality  and  quantity  and  the  straw  is  less  valuable. 
There  is  also  a  considerable  increase  in  the  loss  by  shelling  in  handling 
in  the  field. 

FERTILIZING. 

Rice  is  not  a  great  impoverisher  of  the  soil,  especially  if  the  straw 
and  chaff  are  regularly  returned  to  it. 

It  has  been  claimed  that  the  flooding  of  the  rice  fields  restores  to 
the  soil  as  much  nutritive  material  as  the  rice  crop  removes.  Where 
417 


16 


RICE  CULTURE. 


lands  are  flooded  from  rivers  like  the  Mississippi  or  the  Nile,  which 
carry  a  large  amount  of  silt,  this  may  be  true.  It  is  not  the  case 
where  flooding  is  done  with  pure  water.  The  continued  fertility  of 
the  rice  field  can  only  be  maintained  by  restoring  to  the  soil  annually 
a  portion  of  what  the  crop  removes.  Whether  this  can  be  more 
economically  done  by  the  use  of  commercial  fertilizers  and  plowing 
under  of  the  rice  straw,  or  by  fallowing  occasionally  and  using  some 
renovating  crop  as  a  green  manure  is  an  economic  question  to  be 
determined  by  each  planter  according  to  the  conditions  presented. 
Repeated  trials  of  commercial  fertilizers  have  almost  invariably 
shown  gains  in  the  quality  and  quantity  of  the  crop  more  than 
sufficient  to  cover  the  cost.  Summer  fallowing,  wThere  it  can  be 
practiced,  is,  in  addition  to  its  renovating  effect,  a  substantial  aid  in 
destroying  noxious  grasses  and  red  rice. 

There  is  very  little  exact  information  on  the  subject  of  fertilizers 
for  rice.  In  Japan  and  other  oriental  countries  a  large  proportion 
of  the  rice  land  is  thoroughly  fertilized  in  the  fall  with  straw, 
leaves,  rice  hulls,  fish,  and  night  soil.  The  fields  are  planted  to 
wheat  or  vetches  for  the  winter  crop,  followed  the  next  spring  by 
rice  without  additional  manures. 

WEEDY  GRASSES. 

In  all  delta  rice  lands  the  rapid  increase  of  injurious  grasses 
becomes  a  serious  difficulty.  This  is  intensified  along  the  Mississippi 
by  the  large  amount  and  wonderful  variety  of  grass  seed  in  the  river 
water.  The  conditions  favorable  to  the  growth  of  rice  also  favor 
the  growth  of  many  grasses,  and  these  wild  plants  are  naturally 
more  hardy  than  their  cultivated  competitor.  In  the  early  years  of 
rice  culture  in  eastern  Louisiana  plantations  were  leased,  in  many 
instances,  and  planted  a  few  years  while  they  produced  a  maximum 
crop;  then  they  were  abandoned  for  other  lands  which  had  not 
hitherto  been  planted  in  rice.  This  change  of  lands  was  due  to  the 
rapid  increase  of  harmful  grasses,  many  of  which  were  conveyed 
to  the  fields  by  the  irrigating  water  and  appeared  to  find  such  con¬ 
genial  conditions  for  growth  that  in  about  three  years  they  were 
practically  in  full  possession.  In  a  short  time  it  became  evident 
that  the  practical  supply  of  plantations  for  such  purposes  was 
limited,  and  that  the  planters  must  make  a  more  vigorous  and  suc¬ 
cessful  warfare  on  these  invaders  of  their  fields.  The  following  are 
the  methods  most  generally  employed  against  these  harmful  grasses, 
with  their  advantages  and  defects. 

Hand  weeding. — By  hand  weeding,  grasses  can  be  effectually  de¬ 
stroyed,  and  at  the  same  time  the  rice  crop  greatly  benefited  by  the 

417 


RICE  CULTURE. 


17 


loosening  up  of  the  soil  consequent  on  pulling  up  the  grass.  But 
hand  weeding  is  too  tedious  and  expensive  to  be  generally  employed 
by  the  large  planters. 

Mowing  and  burning  the  grasses. — After  the  rice  is  harvested,  some 
time  should  be  allowed  for  the  growth  of  grass  and  suckers  from 
the  rice  stubble,  so  that  when  cut  there  will  be  enough  straw  to  burn 
well.  Then  the  stubble  should  be  cut  with  a  mowing  machine  and 
the  ground  burned  over.  The  fire  should  destroy  not  only  the  seeds 
but  the  roots,  so  that  there  will  be  no  more  suckering.  A  serious 
objection  to  this  plan  is  that  it  leaves  the  land  perfectly  bare  to  be 
parched  by  the  hot  sun  and  baked  so  hard  as  to  be  difficult  to  plow. 
It  would  appear  that  this  difficulty  might  be  removed  by  sowing  a 
crop  of  winter  oats  or  other  forage  crop  after  burning  over  the 
ground. 

A  better  plan,  provided  the  field  is  to  remain  fallow,  is  to  wait 
until  the  grass  is  killed  by  frost,  then  burn  over  the  ground.  In 
this  way  some  seed  will  be  destroyed.  Left  exposed,  some  other  will 
be  destroyed  by  ice,  and  the  remainder,  feeling  the  warmth  much 
earlier,  will  germinate  in  time  to  be  destroyed  by  plowing.  But  this 
will  make  the  planting  comparatively  late,  and  the  planter  will  lose 
the  benefit  of  the  early  market  for  the  crop. 

Winter  flooding. — Attempts  have  been  made  to  destroy  the  grass  by 
flooding  the  lands  during  the  winter,  but  the  result  has  been  unsat¬ 
isfactory.  It  appears  that  the  grass  seeds  will  not  rot  without  germi¬ 
nating,  and  they  will  not  germinate  in  cold  water. 

Early  planting  and  mowing. — Planters  frequently  adopt  the  plan  of 
sowing  early  and,  when  the  rice  and  grass  have  both  got  a  good- 
start,  mowing  them  off  and  trusting  to  the  rapid  growth  of  the  rice 
to  smother  out  its  slower  growing  rivals.  This  it  generally  does,  but 
its  race  for  life  absorbs  all  its  energies  and  gives  it  no  chance  to 
sucker,  thus  materially  reducing  the  yield. 

Fall  plowing. — Shallow  plowing  and  harrowing  or  thorough  disking 
immediately  after  harvest,  provided  the  weather  is  warm  enough 
for  the  rapid  germination  of  seeds  (not  later  than  September),  is 
quite  effective  against  injurious  grasses  and  red  rice.  Deep  plowing 
simply  buries  the  seed  and  preserves  it  for  future  growth.  The 
shallower  the  plowing  the  better,  and  if  there  is  not  sufficient  mois¬ 
ture  slight  irrigation  should  be  resorted  to  after  the  plowing. 

It  will  be  seen  that  there  are  objections  to  every  method  described, 
and  some  of  them  are  complete  failures.  Next  tp  hand  weeding,  the 
methods  which  involve  the  burning  over  of  the  ground  are  doubtless 
the  most  effective  in  eradicating  the  grass,  but  summer  fallowing 
with  shallow  plowing  and  the  employment  of  some  densely  growing 
crop  like  cowpeas  or  velvet  beans  will,  all  things  considered,  be  the 


417 


18 


RICE  CULTURE. 


most  advantageous  for  the  soil  and  most  efficacious  for  the  eradica¬ 
tion  of  the  injurious  grasses. 

RED  RICE. 

Red  rice,  a  wild  variety  having  red  grains,  causes  the  rice  growers 
much  annoyance  and  loss.  The  presence  of  a  few  red  grains  in  milled 
rice  lowers  its  grade  and  reduces  its  price.  If  red  rice  once  gets  a 
foothold  in  a  field  it  increases  rapidly  from  year  to  year  until  finally 
the  product  becomes  unsalable. 

The  red  rice  and  the  common  white  rice  are  two  separate  and  dis¬ 
tinct  strains.  The  seed  of  one  will  not  produce  the  other.  Being 
stronger,  hardier,  and  more  persistent  than  the  cultivated  white  rice, 
the  former  becomes  a  dangerous  weed  in  the  rice  field.  Its  first  start 
comes  from  the  sowing  of  seed  containing  red  grains.  The  fields  are 
reseeded  from  year  to  year  mainly  in  this  way:  After  the  crop  is 
harvested  the  stalks  which  have  been  cut  off  frequently  send  out 
suckers  from  the  lower  joints  which  mature  seed.  As  these  seeds 
possess  remarkable  resistance  to  premature  germination,  spring  finds 
the  ground  well  sown  with  red  rice. 

Remedies. — Two  things  must  be  accomplished  to  keep  the  field  clear 
of  red  rice:  First,  seed  planted  must  be  free  from  red  rice,  and  the 
utmost  caution  must  be  exercised  to  secure  this;  second,  red  seed, 
if  accidentally  planted,  must  be  prevented  from  maturing  in  the  field. 

To  this  end  it  is  exceedingly  important  to  prevent  a  second  crop 
of  red  seed  from  maturing  after  the  general  harvest,  which  is  almost 
certain  to  occur  if  the  field  is  left  fallow  till  the  following  winter. 
The  land  should  be  well  drained  at  the  time  of  the  harvest,  and 
within  a  few  weeks  thereafter  the  stubble  should  be  plowed  under. 
In  October  the  land  should  be-  thoroughly  cultivated  with  a  disk 
harrow  and  sown  to  oats  for  winter  pasture.  If  the  harvest  be  early, 
the  stubble  may  be  plowed  under  immediately  and  the  field  planted 
to  vetches  or  crimson  clover  for  pasture.  In  pasturage  care  should 
be  exercised  not  to  allow  any  stock  on  these  fields  in  wet  weather. 
It  is  quite  customary  to  burn  the  stubble.  This  may  destroy  a  few 
seeds  and  prevent  sprouts  from  maturing  seed,  but  it  destroys  fer¬ 
tilizers  and  leaves  the  land  bare.  Fall  plowing  and  planting  to 
forage  crops  is  far  more  advantageous.  Plowdng  in  the  early  spring 
and  thorough  cultivation  just  before  planting  are  helpful  in  re¬ 
ducing  the  red  rice,  but  not  sufficient  for  complete  eradication. 

While  some  of  the  methods  mentioned  for  eradicating  weeds  and 
red  rice  are  helpful,  none  of  them  has  proved  completely  successful 
except  summer  fallowing  with  cowpeas  or  planting  in  corn.  This 
plan  increases  the  fertility  of  the  soil,  so  that  more  rice  is  produced 
in  a  series  of  years  than  by  uninterrupted  cropping  with  rice. 

417 


RICE  CULTURE. 


19 


On  new  land,  seed  absolutely  free  from  red  rice  should  be  used; 
then,  with  care,  the  land  may  be  kept  free  from  it.  In  case  land  is 
already  filled  with  it,  if  sufficiently  well  drained,  cultivate  to  corn  or 
cotton  a  few  years ;  if  not  sufficiently  well  drained,  summer  fallow ;  if 
this  can  not  be  done,  pasture  to  sheep  or  hogs.  Every  rice  planter 
should  use  great  care,  in  selecting  a  new  piece  of  ground  upon  which 
to  raise  seed,  to  choose  a  plot  without  possible  taint  of  red.  The  seed 
should  be  examined  so  closely  as  to  prevent  the  sowing  of  any  red  seed. 

HARVESTING. 

Reaping  machines  are  generally  used  in  the  prairie  districts  of 
Louisiana  and  Texas,  but  in  the  other  rice-producing  sections  such 
machines  can  be  used  only  to  a  limited  extent,  if  at  all.  The  principal 
obstacle  to  the  use  of  large  and  heavy  machinery  is  that  the  ground 
is  not  sufficiently  dry  and  firm  at  harvest  time.  In  some  cases  the 
smallness  of  the  fields  is  also  an  obstacle. 

Where  the  use  of  reaping  machines  is  impracticable,  the  sickle  is 
the  implement  commonly  used  in  harvesting  rice.  The  rice  is  cut  at 
6  to  12  inches  from  the  ground,  and  the  cut  grain  is  laid  upon  the 
stubble  to  keep  it  off  the  wet  soil  and  to  allow  the  air  to  circulate 
about  it.  After  a  day’s  curing,  the  grain  is  removed  from  the  field, 
care  being  taken  not  to  bind  it  while  it  is  wet  with  dew  or  rain.  The 
smaller  the  bundles  the  better  will  be  the  cure. 

Care  in  shocking  is  also  important.  Thirty  per  cent  of  the  crop  may 
be  lost  by  improper  shocking.  The  following  directions  will  aid : 
First,  shock  on  dry  ground;  second,  brace  the  bundles  carefully 
against  each  other,  so  as  to  resist  wind  or  storm ;  third,  let  the  shock 
be  longest  east  and  west  and  cap  carefully  with  bundles,  allowing  the 
heads  of  the  capping  bundles  to  fall  on  the  north  side  of  the  shock  to 
avoid  the  sun.  Exposure  of  the  heads  to  sun  and  storm  is  a  large  fac¬ 
tor  in  producing  sun-cracked  and  chalky  kernels,  which  reduce  the 
milling  value.  Slow  curing  in  the  shade  produces  the  toughness  of 
kernel  necessary  to  withstand  the  milling  processes.  In  the  shock 
every  head  should  be  shaded  and  sheltered  from  storm  as  much  as 
possible.  The  rice  should  be  left  in  the  shock  till  the  straw  is  cured 
and  the  kernel  hard. 

When  the  weather  is  dry,  ten  or  twelve  days  after  cutting  is  suffi¬ 
cient  for  completely  curing  the  grain.  If  the  weather  is  damp  or 
rainy,  the  farmer  must  use  his  best  judgment  in  determining  the 
number  of  days  necessary  for  the  curing. 

Whether  stacking  rice  from  the  shock  is  a  benefit  depends  upon  the 
condition  of  the  grain  and  straw  at  the  time  of  stacking  and  how 
the  stacking  is  done.  If  too  much  heat  is  generated,  stacking  is  an 
injury.  It  is,  moreover,  of  less  importance  with  rice  than  with  wheat. 

417 


20 


EICE  CULTURE. 


Judging  from  the  practice  in  other  countries,  rice  well  cured  in  the 
shock  and  aired  after  thrashing  ought  to  keep  in  the  bin  without 
heating. 

THRASHING. 

The  primitive  methods  of  “  flailing,”  “  treading  out,”  etc.,  have 
largely  given  place  to  the  use  of  the  steam  thrasher,  though  its  use 
frequently  involves  considerable  loss  through  breakage  and  waste  of 
grain.  Great  care  should  be  exercised  to  avoid  this  and  preserve 
every  part  which  has  been  won  from  the  soil  with  such  labor.  At  the 
commencement  of  thrashing  an  examination  should  be  made  to  see 
that  there  is  no  avoidable  breakage  of  the  grain.  If  the  rice  is  damp 
when  delivered  from  the  machine,  it  should  be  spread  upon  a  floor 
and  dried  before  sacking,  so  as  to  be  in  the  best  condition  for  the 
market,  for  color  of  grain  affects  the  value.  One  great  mistake  made 
by  many  farmers  is  to  sack  the  rice  when  it  is  really  wet,  without 
airing  and  drying.  They  claim  that  it  will  dry  out  in  the  sack.  It 
will,  but  drying  under  such  conditions  promotes  chalkiness  and  in 
extreme  cases  makes  the  rice  almost  worthless. 


THE  QUESTION  OF  LABOR. 

The  expense  of  labor  in  the  rice  fields  is  one  of  importance  to  the 
planter.  While  American  labor  is  the  highest  paid  in  the  world,  it  is 
also  the  most  effective.  The  great  variations  in  wages  and  in  the  area 
which  can  be  cultivated  by  the  laborer  in  different  countries  are  shown 
in  the  following  table : 


Table  II. — Number  of  acres  one  man  can  farm  in  rice ,  with  wages ,  in  different 

countries. 


Country. 

Acres. 

Farm  wages 
per  day,  with 
board. 

Country. 

Acres. 

Farm  wages 
per  day,  with 
board. 

Japan  . 

China .  . 

Philippines . 

India . 

i 

5  tO  2l 
2? 
3 

3 

4 

5 

SO.  10  to  SO.  20 
.  08  to  .  15 

.  25  to  .  35 

.  05  to  .  10 

.  05  to  .  10 

.  20  to  .  30 

.  30  to  .50 

Spain . 

United  States: 

Carolinas . 

Arkansas . 

5 

8 

SO.  30  to  SO.  50 

.  60  to  .  80 
1. 00  to  1. 25 

1.50  to  2.00 

Siam . 

Egypt  . 

Italy . 

Southwestern 
Louisiana  and 
Texas . 

80 

These  figures  show  that  the  high  wages  paid  in  the  United  States 
need  not  stand  in  the  way  of  the  extension  of  the  industry. 

YIELD  OF  RICE. 

The  yield  of  rice  varies  with  conditions  of  soil  and  climate  and 
methods  of  culture.  The  commercial  standard  weight  of  “  rough 


417 


RICE  CULTURE. 


21 


rice  ”  is  45  pounds  to  the  bushel.  The  product  is  usually  put  up  in 
sacks  or  barrels  of  162  pounds  each.  A  barrel  is  a  definite  quantity — 
162  pounds.  A  sack  is  an  indefinite  quantity,  but  usually  contains 
from  150  to  200  pounds. 

In  South  Carolina  and  Georgia  the  average  yield  is  given  as  8  to  12 
barrels.  Good  lands  properly  managed  will  give  a  considerably  larger 
vield. 

A  prominent  planter,  speaking  of  rice  crops  on  the  lowlands  along 
the  Mississippi,  says: 

Under  my  own  observation  there  has  been  produced  on  this  land  as  high  as 
30  barrels  (4,860  pounds)  of  rough  rice  per  acre.  This  was  upon  good  land 
that  had  been  in  peas  and  had  been  fall  plowed  with  6-mule  teams.  The  average 
product  per  acre  on  the  lower  coast  (Mississippi  River)  will  not  exceed  8  bar¬ 
rels,  and  12  barrels  is  considered  a  good  crop. 

The  yield  in  southwestern  Louisiana  is  said  by  good  authority  to 
range  from  8  to  18  barrels  per  acre. 

In  a  report  made  by  planters  to  the  Savannah  Rice  Association, 
January  28,  1882,  the  average  yield  to  the  acre  is  placed  at  30  bushels, 
and  the  annual  cost  of  cultivation,  including  interest  on  the  land,  at 
$35  per  acre.  In  a  report  made  by  prominent  rice  planters  to  the 
House  Committee  on  Ways  and  Means  in  January,  1897,  the  average 
yield  to  the  acre  is  placed  at  32  bushels,  and  the  cost  of  production  is 
fixed  at  $24.  If  we  take  the  latter  estimate,  the  cost  to  the  planter  in 
the  Atlantic  States  of  raising  100  pounds  of  rough  rice  is  $1.66,  or 
$2.69  per  barrel  of  162  pounds.  Of  course  this  is  only  an  average,  the 
cost  being  much  less  in  some  instances  and  possibly  greater  in  others. 

RICE  MILLING-. 

Object  of  milling. — The  rice  as  it  comes  from  the  thrasher  is  known 
as  “  paddy  ”  or  “  rough  rice.”  It  consists  of  the  grain  proper  with  its 
close-fitting  cuticle  roughly  inclosed  by  the  somewhat  stiff,  hard  husk. 
The  object  of  milling  is  to  produce  cleaned  rice  by  removing  the  husk 
and  cuticle  and  polishing  the  surface  of  the  grain.  The  hulls  or  chaff 
constitute  from  12  to  25  per  cent  of  the  weight  of  the  paddy,  depend¬ 
ing  on  the  variety  and  condition. 

Primitive  methods. — The  primitive  method  of  milling  rice  was  to 
place  a  small  quantity  of  paddy  in  a  hollow  stone  or  block  of  wood 
and  pound  it  with  a  pestle.  The  blow  with  the  pestle  cracked  the  hull, 
and  the  friction  created  by  the  sliding  motion  of  the  rice  under  the 
blow  released  the  hull  and  the  cuticle.  The  bran  ahd  hulls  were  then 
removed  by  winnowing.  The  first  advance  upon  this  primitive  me¬ 
chanical  process  was  to  make  the  receptacle  for  the  rice  out  of  a  short 
section  of  a  hollow  log,  using  a  heavy  wooden  pounder  bound  to  a 
horizontal  beam  6  to  8  feet  long,  resting  on  a  fulcrum  4  to  5  feet  from 


417 


22 


RICE  CULTURE. 


the  pounder.  To  raise  the  pounder  the  operator  stepped  on  the  short 
end  of  the  beam ;  then  he  suddenly  stepped  off  and  the  pounder 
dropped  into  the  rice  tub  and  delivered  a  blow.  The  end  of  the 
pounder  was  concave  with  edges  rounded.  This  simple  machine  and 
the  fanning  mill  are  in  common  use  in  oriental  countries  to  this  day. 
Such  a  mill  cleans  about  11  bushels  (a  trifle  over  3  barrels)  of  paddy 
rice  per  day,  at  a  cost  of  6  cents  (gold)  per  barrel. 

In  time  water  power  was  used  to  turn  an  overshot  wheel,  which 
was  geared  to  a  long  horizontal  shaft,  with  arms  at  distances  apart 
equal  to  that  of  the  rice  pounders.  The  rice  pounder  was  a  vertical 
beam  about  10  feet  long  and  G  inches  square,  with  a  pin  projecting 
at  a  point  to  be  caught  by  the  rounded  end  of  the  arm  of  the  revolv¬ 
ing  shaft,  which  raised  the  pounder  a  short  distance,  then  slipped 
past  the  pin,  allowing  the  pounder  to  drop  into  the  tub  of  rice.  This 
process  was  repeated  until  the  hull  and  bran  were  removed.  The 
rice  tubs  stood  in  a  row  as  closely  as  practicable  for  use.  Generally, 
to  economize  space,  there  were  two  shafts  revolving  in  opposite 
directions,  allowing  two  rows  of  rice  tubs.  In  every  mountain  vil¬ 
lage  in  Japan  such  mills  may  be  found  preparing  the  rice  for  local 
consumption.  They  usually  have  about  eight  pounders  and  mill  9G 
bushels  daily,  or  26§  barrels,  of  paddy  rice  at  a  cost  of  about  2  cents 
per  barrel,  which  is  more  than  paid  for  by  the  offal.  In  cities  steam 
power  is  used  and  the  number  of  pounders  greatly  increased,  but 
the  process  is  practically  unchanged. 

Modern  methods. — The  improved  processes  of  milling  rice  are  quite 
complicated.  The  paddy  is  first  screened  to  remove  trash  and  for¬ 
eign  particles.  The  hulls,  or  chaff,  are  removed  by  rapidly  revolv¬ 
ing  “  milling  stones  ”  set  about  two-thirds  of  the  length  of  a  rice 
grain  apart.  The  product  goes  over  horizontal  screens  and  blowers, 
which  separate  the  light  chaff  and  the  whole  and  broken  kernels. 
The  grain  is  now  of  a  mixed  yellow  and  white  color.  To  remove  the 
outer  skin  the  grain  is  put  in  huge  mortars  holding  from  4  to  6 
bushels  each  and  pounded  with  pestles  weighing  350  to  400  pounds. 
Strange  to  say,  the  heavy  weight  of  the  pestles  breaks  very  little 
grain. 

When  sufficiently  decorticated  the  contents  of  the  mortars,  con¬ 
sisting  now  of  flour,  fine  chaff,  and  clean  rice  of  a  dull,  filmy,  creamy 
color,  are  removed  to  the  flour  screens,  where  the  flour  is  sifted  out; 
and  thence  to  the  fine-chaff  fan,  where  the  fine  chaff  is  blown  out. 
On  account  of  the  heat  generated  by  the  heavy  frictional  process 
through  which  it  has  just  passed,  the  rice  next  goes  to  the  cooling 
bins.  It  remains  here  for  eight  or  nine  hours,  and  then  passes  to  the 
brush  screens,  whence  the  smallest  rice  and  what  little  flour  is  left 
pass  down  on  one  side  and  the  larger  rice  down  the  other. 

417 


RICE  CULTURE. 


23 


Polishing. — The  grain  is  now  clean  and  ready  for  the  last  process — 
polishing.  This  is  necessary  to  give  the  rice  its  pearly  luster,  and  it 
makes  all  the  difference  imaginable  in  its  appearance.  The  polish¬ 
ing  is  effected  by  friction  against  the  rice  of  pieces  of  moose  hide  or 
sheepskin,  tanned  and  worked  to  a  wonderful  degree  of  softness, 
loosely  tacked  around  a  revolving  double  cylinder  of  wood  and  wire 
gauze.  From  the  polishers  the  rice  goes  to  the  separating  screens, 
composed  of  different  sizes  of  gauze,  where  it  is  divided  into  its 
appropriate  grades.  It  is  then  barreled  and  is  ready  for  market. 

Hulling  machines. — In  mills  more  recently  erected  the  foregoing 
process  has  been  modified  by  substituting  the  “  huller  ”  for  the  mor¬ 
tar  and  pounder.  The  huller  is  a  short,  cast-iron,  horizontal  tube 
with  interior  ribs  and  a  funnel  at  one  end  to  admit  the  rice.  Within 
this  tube  revolves  a  shaft  with  ribs.  These  ribs  are  so  adjusted  that 
the  revolution  of  the  shaft  creates  the  friction  necessary  to  remove 
the  cuticle.  The  rice  passes  out  of  the  huller  at  the  end  opposite  the 
funnel.  It  resembles  externally  a  large  sausage  machine.  Six  hul- 
lers  are  required  for  each  set  of  burs.  The  automatic  sacker  and 
weigher  is  used,  sacks  instead  of  barrels  being  preferred  for  shipping 
the  cleaned  rice. 

With  the  above  modification  of  the  milling  processes  considerable 
reduction  has  been  made  in  the  cost  of  the  mill.  Mills  of  a  daily 
capacity  of  60,000  pounds  of  cleaned  rice  can  now  be  constructed  at 
a  total  cost  of  $10,000  to  $15,000. 

A  portable  mill. — A  portable  rice  mill  has  also  been  devised  for  plan¬ 
tation  use,  costing  $250  to  $300,  aside  from  the  power  to  run  it,  and 
capable  of  cleaning  8,100  pounds  of  paddy  rice  per  day.  Such  small 
machines  do  not  give  the  finish  required  by  the  general  market,  but 
turn  out  excellent  rice  for  local  use. 

EFFECTS  OF  FASHION  IN  RICE. 

Effect  of  polishing. — Fashion  demands  rice  having  a  fine  gloss.  To 
supply  this  the  rice  is  put  through  the  polishing  process,  which  re¬ 
moves  some  of  the  most  nutritious  portions  of  the  rice  grains.  Esti¬ 
mated  according  to  the  food  values,  rice  polish  (or  flour)  is  If  times 
as  valuable  for  food  as  polished  rice.  The  oriental  custom,  much 
used  by  farmers  in  the  South,  of  removing  the  hulls  and  bran  with  a 
pounder  and  using  the  grain  without  polishing  is  economical  and 
furnishes  a  rice  of  much  higher  food  value  tham  the  rice  of  com¬ 
merce.  In  the  process  of  polishing  nearly  all  the  fats  are  removed. 
In  100  pounds  of  rice  polish  there  are  7.2  pounds  of  fats.  In  100 
pounds  of  polished  rice  there  is  only  0.4  pound  of  fat.  Upon  the 
theory  that  the  flavor  is  in  the  fats,  it  is  easy  to  understand  the  lack 

417 


24 


RICE  CULTURE. 


of  flavor  in  commercial  rice  and  why  travelers  universally  speak  of 
the  excellent  quality  of  the  rice  they  eat  in  oriental  countries. 

Grades  and  prices. — Aside  from  the  loss  in  flavor  and  nutritive  value 
by  polishing,  fashion  again  increases  the  cost  of  commercial  rice  by 
demanding  whole  grains  and  places  a  value  of  about  2  cents  per 
pound  more  on  head  rice  (whole  grains)  than  on  the  same  quality 
slightly  broken.  The  weekly  New  Orleans  market  report  for  July 
16,  1910,  makes  the  following  quotations  on  cleaned  rice  per  pound : 

Price  of  Honduras  rice.  Price  of  Japan  rice. 

Head .  $0.  041  to  $0.  06£  $0.  02*  to  $0. 03* 

Straights  (slightly  broken) . 03  to  .04  .  01§  to  .021 

Screenings  (partly  broken) . 02  to  .  02J  .02  to  .021 

No.  2(finely  broken,  or  brewers’ rice).  .02  .02 

Such  a  large  proportion  of  Japan  rice  comes  from  the  mill  as 
whole  grains  or  head  rice  that  even  at  the  lower  price  it  makes  the 
grain  profitable. 

These  grades  are  determined  not  by  the  difference  in  quality,  but  b j 
appearance,  and  may  be  manufactured  from  the  same  quality  of 
paddy  rice.  There  may  be  a  slight  difference  in  food  value  between 
No.  2  (fine  rice  sold  to  brewers)  and  fancy,  but  if  any  it  is  trifling. 
If  rice  is  to  enter  largely  into  the  list-  of  economic  foods  for  the  use 
of  the  masses,  grades  must  be  established  based  on  the  food  values 
and  not  on  the  polish  of  the  surface.  It  would  be  just  as  sensible  to 
place  a  price  on  shoes  according  to  the  polish  they  will  take. 

Losses  by  breakage. — We  are  now  prepared  to  understand  the  loss  by 
breakage  of  the  kernel  in  milling.  If  the  grain  remains  whole  and  is 
sufficiently  hard  to  receive  a  high  polish  it  sells  for  6  cents  per  pound. 
If  it  breaks  it  drops  in  price  2  or  3  cents  per  pound,  and  if  it  crumbles 
so  that  the  particles  will  pass  through  a  No.  12  sieve  the  price  may  be 
If  cents  per  pound.  The  question  is,  What  is  the  average  breakage 
per  100  pounds  and  how  can  it  be  remedied?  Investigations  made 
among  the  rice  millers  in  1897  led  to  the  conclusion  (based  upon  .their 
written  statements)  that  the  perfect  grains  in  Honduras  rice  were 
only  about  40  per  cent  of  the  total  product.  Letters  addressed  to  the 
various  rice  mills  have  failed  in  most  cases  to  elicit  the  information. 
The  president  of  the  New  Orleans  Board  of  Trade  states  in  a  letter : 
“  The  second  part  of  your  letter  we  are  unable  to  answer  as  a  propo¬ 
sition,  for  the  reason  that  different  mills  achieve  different  results,  and 
there  is  no  way  by  which  the  trade  can  arrive  at  an  average  of  the 
yield  made  by  the  different  mills,  this  information  as  a  rule  being 
carefully  guarded.”  In  the  few  reports  received  the  grading  of  the 
milled  product  was  so  different  that  no  conclusions  could  be  drawn  as 
to  the  relative  amount  obtained  by  the  mills.  In  the  mills  reporting, 
417 


RICE  CULTURE. 


25 


the  best  lots  of  rice  milled  in  1899  showed  a  breakage  of  21^  to  40 
per  cent  and  the  poorest  lots  showed  from  65  to  100  per  cent.  The  best 
lots  of  rice  gave  from  100  to  112.9  pounds  of  milled  rice  from  162 
pounds  of  paddy ;  the  poorest  gave  only  from  63.6  to  85  pounds  from 
the  same  quantity  of  paddy. 

The  total  loss  by  breakage  in  the  United  States  approximates 
$2,000,000  annually.  A  large  proportion  of  this  can  be  saved  by 
selecting  better  seed,  by  more  careful  attention  to  the  field  manage¬ 
ment  in  the  production  of  the  crop,  and  by  more  care  in  curing  and 
thrashing;  and  to  this  should  be  added  more  care  in  milling  or  mill¬ 
ing  by  processes  that  produce  the  least  breakage. 

RICE  AS  A  E00D. 

As  a  food  material  rice  is  nutritious  and  easily  digested.  In  com¬ 
parison  with  wheat  it  is  poor  in  nitrogeneous  material  and  fat,  and 
correspondingly  rich  in  non  nitrogenous  substances  (carbohydrates), 
h  Results  of  analyses. — Analyses  show  that  100  pounds  of  cleaned  rice 
contain  87.7  pounds  of  total  nutrients,  consisting  of  8  pounds  protein, 
0.3  pound  fat,  79  pounds  carbohydrates,  and  ash  0.4  pound.  In  com¬ 
parison  with  this,  100  pounds  of  wheat  flour  contain  87.2  pounds  of 
total  nutrients,  consisting  of  10.8  pounds  protein,  1.1  pounds  fat,  74.8 
pounds  carbohydrates,  and  0.4  pound  ash.®  The  ease  with  which  the 
deficiency  of  albuminoids  and  fats  can  be  supplied  from  legumes  and 
the  almost  absolute  certainty  of  producing  a  crop  every  year  are  the 
principal  reasons  why  rice  is  the  staple  food  in  many  densely  popu¬ 
lated  countries. 

It  is  claimed  that  boiled  rice  is  digestible  in  one  hour,  and  hence  is 
an  admirable  food  when  ease  of  digestion  is  a  matter  of  importance. 
Rice  should  be  at  least  three  months  old  before  it  is  used  for  food. 

Food  uses. — In  rice-producing  countries  rice  is  used  in  the  daily 
foods  as  a  substitute  for  Irish  potatoes  and  wheat  bread.  It  is  eaten 

alone  with  a  little  dried  fish  or  other  material  to  balance  the  ration. 

% 

In  China,  Japan,  and  Java  soy  sauce,  soy-bean  cheese,  or  other  sim¬ 
ilar  product  is  eaten  with  rice  in  considerable  amounts  and  furnishes 
a  large  part  of  the  protein  necessary  in  the  daily  diet.  In  the  rice 
districts  of  the  United  States  rice  is  used  in  place  of  the  Irish  potato. 
Boiled  rice,  flaked  rice,  rice  puddings,  croquettes,  cakes,  and  many 
other  well-known  dishes  made  from  rice  form  a  part  of  the  diet  of 
many,  if  not  of  the  majority,  of  the  well-to-do  families  in  the  rice- 
producing  sections  of  the  United  States.  Such  dishes  are  palatable 
and  wholesome  and  help  to  give  variety  in  diet.  Rice  polish  or  flour, 
which  is  now  sold  at  the  mills  at  three-fourths  of  a  cent  to  1  cent  a 

®  Bulletin  28,  rev.,  Office  of  Experiment  Stations,  U,  S.  Dept,  of  Agriculture. 

417 


26 


RICE  CULTURE. 


pound  for  cattle  food,  or  exported  to  Germany,  will,  when  appre¬ 
ciated,  be  in  demand  for  human  food.  It  contains  10.95  per  cent  of 
protein,  in  comparison  with  7.4  per  cent  for  the  clean  rice. 

BY-PRODUCTS  OF  RICE  CULTURE. 

Results  of  analyses. — Rice  bran  contains  12.1  per  cent  protein,  8.8  per 
cent  fat,  and  59.4  per  cent  fiber  and  carbohydrates ;  rice  hulls,  3.6  per 
cent  protein,  0.7  per  cent  fat,  35.7  per  cent  fiber,  and  38.6  per  cent 
other  carbohydrates;  and  rice  polish,  11.7  per  cent  protein,  7.3  per 
cent  fat,  and  64.3  per  cent  fiber  and  carbohydrates.®  According  to 
an  estimate  made  by  Doctor  Stubbs,  director  of  the  Louisiana  experi¬ 
ment  station,* 6  rice  polish  is  worth  $21.55  j)er  ton;  rice  bran,  $20.80; 
rice  straw,  $9.13;  and  rice  hulls,  $8.34.  These  values  are  based  on 
the  assumption  that  the  nutritive  elements  in  rice  are  digestible  in  the 
same  degree  as  those  contained  in  the  by-products  of  wheat  and  other 
cereals. 

Straw. — Rice  straw  is  worth  preserving.  As  a  fodder  for  stock  its 
value  is  about  equal  to  good  southern  prairie  hay.  Rice  straw  con¬ 
tains  4.72  per  cent  crude  protein,  32.21  per  cent  carbohydrates,  and 
1.87  per  cent  fats.  The  sweetness  and  excellent  flavor  of  well- 
preserved  rice  straw  adds  very  materially  to  its  practical  feeding 
value,  because  stock  will  consume  large  quantities  of  it.  Digestion 
experiments  have  not  been  made  with  the  straw  or  any  of  the  by¬ 
products  of  rice  milling. 

Riee  hulls. — The  hulls  removed  from  the  rice  in  the  first  process  of 
milling  possess  a  low  degree  of  feeding  value,  and  being  also  deficient 
in  flavor  and  digestibility  they  are  of  little  value  as  food  for  stock; 
they  are  more  valuable  as  a  fertilizer.  They  not  only  restore  to  the 
land  part  of  the  elements  of  fertility  removed  by  the  crop,  but  in¬ 
crease  the  porosity  of  the  soil.  They  also  make  an  excellent  mulch 
for  garden  and  orchard. 

Hull  ashes. — In  passing  through  rice-milling  districts  large  quanti¬ 
ties  of  hull  ashes  will  be  noticed.  These  have  been  verv  little  used 
by  farmers  and  gardeners,  under  the  general  impression  that  they 
are  of  no  value.  One  hundred  pounds  of  hull  ashes  contain  0.82 
pound  of  phosphoric  acid  and  0.93  pound  of  potash.  There  are 
many  other  better  sources  of  potash  and  phosphoric  acid.  The 
amount  contained  in  the  hull  ashes  would  not  pay  the  cost  of  scat¬ 
tering  them  over  the  fields. 

The  planter  who  burns  his  straw  and  sells  his  rice  in  the  paddy 
loses  63.92  per  cent  of  the  total  mineral  matter  of  the  crop.  If  the 

a  Yearbook,  U.  S.  Dept,  of  Agriculture,  for  1896,  p.  607. 

6  Bulletin  24,  Louisiana  Agricultural  Experiment  Station. 

417 


RICE  CULTURE. 


27 


rice  straw  and  the  hulls  be  returned  to  the  soil  as  manure,  86.36  per 
cent  of  the  mineral  matter  of  the  crop  will  be  restored,  and  the  loss 
would  be  only  13.64  per  cent.  The  present  method  of  burning  rice 
hulls  can  not  be  too  severely  condemned,  but  doubtless  will  be  con¬ 
tinued  as  long  as  rice  is  sold  in  the  paddy.  Hulling  is  a  process 
requiring  very  simple  and  inexpensive  machinery.  It  can  be  done 
profitably  upon  the  farm,  and  is  done  in  most  of  the  great  rice- 
producing  countries.  In  addition  to  their  fertilizing  value,  the 
removal  of  the  hull  on  the  farm  saves  the  expense  for  sacks  and 
freight  charge  for  the  extra  bulk  and  weight,  the  hulls  forming 
generally  about  20  per  cent  of  the  weight  of  the  paddy.  It  also 
enables  the  farmer  as  well  as  the  miller  to  determine  with  greater 
exactness  the  quality  of  the  grain,  thereby  removing  that  element 
of  uncertainty  which  always  operates  to  the  detriment  of  the  farmer. 
It  should  be  mentioned,  however,  that  the  hard  husk  of  the  rice  tends 
to  prevent  attacks  of  weevil  on  the  grain,  and  that  rice  with  all  or 
a  portion  of  the  husks  on  keeps  better  in  storage  or  long  shipment. 

Rice  polish. — This  is  the  fine  flour  resulting  from  the  polishing 
process.  It  is  a  valuable  stock  food,  being  rich  in  albuminoids  as 
well  as  carbohydrates. 

RICE  CULTIVATION  IN  SOUTHWESTERN  LOUISIANA  AND  SOUTH¬ 
EASTERN  TEXAS. 

It  is  necessary  to  treat  of  rice  production  in  southwestern  Louisiana 
and  southeastern  Texas  separately,  because  the  methods  are  in  some 
respects  different  from  those  practiced  in  any  other  part  of  the  world. 

METHODS  OF  CULTURE  REVOLUTIONIZED. 

In  1884  and  1885  a  few  farmers  from  the  northwestern  Prairie 
States  settled  on  the  great  southern  prairie  which  extends  along  the 
coast  from  the  parish  of  St.  Mary  in  Louisiana  to  the  Texas  line — 
about  140  miles.  Finding  that  rice,  which  had  been  grown  for  many 
3^ears  for  home  consumption,  but  by  oriental  methods,  was  well  suited 
to  the  conditions  of  agriculture  here,  they  commenced  immediately 
to  adapt  the  agricultural  machinery  to  which  they  had  been  accus¬ 
tomed  to  the  rice  industry.  The  gang  plow,  disk  harrow,  drill,  and 
broadcast  seeder  were  readily  adjusted,  but  the  twine  binder  en¬ 
countered  a  number  of  serious  obstacles.  However,  by  the  close  of 
1886  the  principal  difficulties  had  been  overcome.  ^Wherever  prairies 
were  found  sufficiently  level,  with  an  intersecting  creek  which  could 
be  used  to  flood  them,  they  were  surrounded  by  a  small  levee  thrown 
up  by  a  road  grader  or  by  a  plow  with  a  strong  wing  attached  to  the 
moldboard  extending  it  4  or  5  feet.  These  levees  were  usually  12  to 

417 


28 


RICE  CULTURE. 


24  inches  high,  and  the  interior  ditch  was  12  to  18  inches  deep  and  4 
or  5  feet  wide.  Very  few  interior  ditches  were  made  for  drainage. 
The  land  was  so  level  that  fields  of  40  and  80  acres  were  common. 
Large  crops  were  produced.  The  prairies  were  practically  free  from 
injurious  grasses,  and  the  creek  or  river  water  was  soft  and  bore  no 
damaging  seeds  to  the  fields.  The  rice  fields  were  handled  like  the 
bonanza  wheat  farms  of  Dakota,  and  fortunes  were  made.  Levees 
were  cheaply  constructed ;  little  attention  was  paid  to  drainage,  more 
than  to  remove  the  surface  water;  shocking,  stacking,  and  thrashing 
were  done  in  a  very  careless  manner;  the  main  object  being,  appar¬ 
ently,  to  plant  a  large  acreage  and  harvest  a  certain  number  of 
bushels,  regardless  of  quality.  Ultimate  failure  was  certain,  but  it 
was  hastened  by  drought.  A  succession  of  dry  years  followed.  The 
creeks  failed,  and  reservoirs  were  found  to  be  expensive  and 
unreliable. 

The  soil  and  climatic  conditions  in  southeastern  Texas  are  almost 
precisely  like  those  in  southwestern  Louisiana.  Dice  culture  in  this 
section  requires  no  separate  treatment.  What  is  applicable  to  the  one 
applies  also  to  the  other.  There  is  a  belt  of  prairie  well  suited  to  rice 
extending  from  the  Sabine  River  west  for  250  miles  or  more  along 
the  coast.  Within  a  few  years  large  farms  have  been  opened  and 
devoted  to  this  cereal  with  excellent  returns. 

IRRIGATION. 

Pumping  water  from  streams. — To  provide  a  reliable  supply  of  water, 
pumping  plants  for  raising  water  from  the  streams  were  gradually 
put  in.  The  elevation  of  the  prairies  above  the  streams  varies  from 
6  to  38  feet,  the  larger  proportion  being  from  15  to  25  feet.  At  first, 
farms  along  the  streams  and  lakes  were  irrigated;  gradually  large 
surface  canals  were  constructed. 

Canals  for  irrigation. — Irrigating  canals  were  started  in  a  small  way 
in  Acadia  Parish,  La.,  in  1890.  In  1894  a  canal  40  feet  wide  was 
built  for  15  miles  with  10  miles  of  laterals.  This  was  followed  by  the 
Crowley  Canal  and  the  Riverside  Canal.  In  nearly  every  township 
there  are  one  or  more  ridges  slightly  above  the  surrounding  land. 
On  these,  surface  canals  are  built  from  20  to  150  feet  in  width,  ac¬ 
cording  to  the  area  to  be  watered.  The  sides  of  the  canal  are  raised 
from  4  to  5  feet  with  plows  and  scrapers  or  with  grading  machinery. 
Grading  machines  work  very  well,  as  the  soil  is  a  loam  or  a  clay  loam 
free  from  stones.  Side  gates  are  inserted  in  the  embankment  as  fre¬ 
quently  as  necessary.  Laterals  are  run  from  the  main  canal  to  ac¬ 
commodate  remote  farms.  Powerful  pumping  plants  are  erected  on 
the  bank  of  the  river  at  the  head  of  the  surface  canal.  These  canals, 


417 


RICE  CULTURE. 


29 


where  well  constructed  and  operated,  prove  entirely  successful,  and 
make  the  rice  crop  a  practical  certainty  over  a  large  section  of 
country.  They  range  in  irrigating  capacity  from  1,000  to  30,000 
acres.  The  usual  water  rent  charged  the  planter  by  the  canal  com¬ 
pany  is  324  pounds  of  rough  rice  per  acre  watered. 

Deep  wells  flor  irrigation. — Scarcely  had  the  surface  canals  been  ac¬ 
cepted  as  a  success  when  southwestern  Louisiana  w^s  startled  by  the 
announcement  that  there  were  strata  of  gravel  under  the  surface  of 
the  entire  section,  varying  from  125  to  200  feet  in  some  districts  to 
400  to  600  feet  in  others,  containing  a  large  supply  of  water  which 
would,  of  its  own  pressure,  either  flow  or  come  so  near  the  surface  that 
it  could  be  readily  pumped. 

Pipes  of  2,  3,  4,  6,  and  8  inch  size  have  been  sunk  to  the  gravel  and 
pumped  continuously  for  months  without  serious  diminution  of  the 
supply.  The  water  is  soft,  at  a  constant  temperature  of  about  70°  F., 
and  absolutely  free  from  injurious  seeds  or  minerals.  Such  is  the 
facility  with  which  these  wells  are  made  that  a  6-inch  tube  has  been 
put  down  to  the  full  depth  required — 200  feet — in  fourteen  hours. 
Thus  far  it  has  been  found  that  a  6-inch  pipe  will  furnish  sufficient 
water  to  flood  60  to  80  acres.  Such  wells  are  used  for  the  irrigation 
of  other  crops  than  rice. 

A  6-inch  well  will  furnish  a  constant  stream  for  a  4  to  5  inch  pump. 
A  system  of  such  wells  may  be  put  down  30  to  40  feet  apart.  Such  a 
combination  of  wells  may  be  united  just  below  water  level,  and  all  be 
run  by  one  engine  and  pump.  Water  rises  naturally  in  these  wells 
to  within  20  feet  of  the  surface,  and  a  number  of  flowing  wells  have 
been  secured.  The  lift  is  not  greater  than  from  rivers,  lakes,  or  bayous 
into  canals.  Eight  4-inch  wells  united  at  the  top  can  be  run  by  one 
16-inch  pump  and  a  50-horsepower  engine,  and  will  flood  500  or  more 
acres  of  rice. 

The  total  cost  of  an  irrigating  plant  sufficient  for  flooding  200  acres 
is  from  $2,000  to  $3,000.  It  requires  about  seventy  days’  pumping  for 
the  rice  season. 

HARVESTING  AND  THRASHING. 

The  operations  of  harvesting  and  thrashing  the  rice  crop  in  south¬ 
western  Louisiana  are  performed  with  the  self-binder  and  the  steam 
thrasher.  The  use  of  the  former  is  favored  by  the  size  of  the  fields 
and  by  the  character  of  the  soil.  The  use  of  the  latter,  while  it  fre¬ 
quently  involves  the  breakage  of  considerable  grain,  is  a  cheap,  rapid, 
and  effective  method  of  separating  the  rice  from  the  straw.  Without 
the  use  of  such  machines  the  large  cultural  operations  of  this  section 
would  be  impossible. 

417 


30 


RICE  CULTURE. 


PROSPECTS  FOR  THE  EXTENSION  OF  THE  RICE  INDUSTRY. 

The  outlook  for  the  further  extension  of  rice  culture  is  very  prom¬ 
ising.  According  to  the  best  estimates  there  are  about  10,000,000  acres 
of  land  in  the  five  States  bordering  the  Gulf  of  Mexico  well  suited  to 
rice  cultivation.  The  amount  which  can  be  successfully  irrigated  by 
present  methods,  using  the  available  surface  and  artesian  flows,  does 
not  exceed  3,000,000  acres.  The  balance  of  the  land  could  probably  be 
brought  into  cultivation  were  it  necessary,  but  the  cost  would,  perhaps, 
be  prohibitive  at  present  prices.  Three  million  acres  is  a  conservative 
estimate  of  the  area  which  can  be  easily  irrigated.  The  best  re¬ 
sults  require  rotation  of  crops;  consequently  only  one-half  of  that 
area,  or  1,500,000  acres,  would  be  in  rice  at  any  one  time.  At  an 
average  yield  of  10  barrels  (of  162  pounds)  per  acre,  1,500,000  acres 
of  rice  would  produce  nearly  2,500,000,000  pounds  of  cleaned  rice, 
nearly  six  times  the  amount  of  our  present  consumption.  There  is 
no  satisfactory  reason  why  the  United  States  should  not  grow  and 
mill  all  of  its  own  rice  and  become  an  exporter. 

The  employment  of  machinery  in  the  rice  fields  of  the  Southwest 
similar  to  that  used  in  the  great  wheat  fields  of  California  and  the 
Dakotas  is  revolutionizing  the  methods  of  cultivation  and  greatly 
reducing  the  cost.  The  American  rice  grower,  employing  higher 
priced  labor  than  any  other  rice  grower  of  the  world,  in  all  prob¬ 
ability  will  ultimately  be  able  to  market  his  crop  at  the  least  cost  and 
the  greatest  profit.  If,  in  addition,  the  same  relative  improvement 
can  be  secured  in  the  rice  itself,  and  if  varieties  which  yield  from  80 
to  90  per  cent  of  head  rice  in  the  finished  product  can  be  successfully 
introduced,  American  rice  growers  will  be  able  to  command  the  high¬ 
est  prices  for  their  product  in  the  markets  of  the  world. 

417 


FARMERS’  BULLETINS 


Bulletins  in  this  list  will  be  sent  free,  so  long  as  the  supply  lasts,  to  any  resident 
of  the  United  States,  on  application  to  his  Senator,  Representative,  or  Dele¬ 
gate  in  Congress,  or  to  the  Secretary  of  Agriculture,  Washington,  D.  C.  Because 
of  the  limited  supply,  applicants  are  urged  to  select  only  a  few  numbers,  choosing 
those  which  are  of  special  interest  to  them.  Residents  of  foreign  countries  should 
apply  to  the  Superintendent  of  Documents,  Government  Printing  Office,  Washington, 
D.  C.,  who  has  these  bulletins  for  sale.  Price  5  cents  each  to  Canada,  Cuba,  and 
Mexico;  6  cents  to  other  foreign  countries.  The  bulletins  entitled  “Experiment 
Station  Work”  give  briefly  the  results  of  experiments  performed  by  the  State  experi¬ 
ment  stations. 


22.  The  Feeding  of  Farm  Animals. 

27.  Flax  for  Seed  and  Fiber. 

28.  Weeds:  And  How  to  Kill  Them. 

30.  Grape  Diseases  on  the  Pacific  Coast. 

32.  Silos  and  Silage. 

34.  Meats:  Composition  and  Cooking. 

35.  Potato  Culture. 

36.  Cotton  Seed  and  Its  Products. 

44.  Commercial  Fertilizers. 

48.  The  Manuring  of  Cotton. 

49.  Sheep  Feeding. 

51.  Standard  Varieties  of  Chickens. 

62.  The  Sugar  Beet. 

54.  Some  Common  Birds. 

56.  The  Dairy  Herd. 

56.  Experiment  Station  Work— I. 

60.  Methods  of  Curing  Tobacco. 

61.  Asparagus  Culture. 

62.  Marketing  Farm  Produce. 

63.  Care  of  Milk  on  the  Farm. 

64.  Ducks  and  Geese. 

65.  Experiment  Station  Work — II. 

69.  Experiment  Station  Work — III. 

73.  Experiment  Station  Work— IV. 

77.  The  Liming  of  Soils. 

78.  Experiment  Station  Work— V. 

79.  Experiment  Station  Work — VI. 

81.  Corn  Culture  in  the  South. 

82.  The  Culture  of  Tobacco. 

83.  Tobacco  Soils. 

84.  Experiment  Station  Work— VII. 

85.  Fish  as  Food. 

86.  Thirty  Poisonous  Plants. 

87.  Experiment  Station  Work— VIII. 

88.  Alkali  Lands. 

91.  Potato  Diseases  and  Treatment. 

92.  Experiment  Station  Work — IX. 

93.  Sugar  as  Food. 

96.  Raising  Sheep  for  Mutton. 

97.  Experiment  Station  Work — X. 

99.  Insect  Enemies  of  Shade  Trees. 

101.  Millets. 

103.  Experiment  Station  Work — XI. 

104.  Notes  on  Frost. 

105.  Experiment  Station  Work— XII. 

106.  Breeds  of  Dairy  Cattle. 

110.  Rice  Culture  in  the  United  States. 

113.  The  Apple  and  How  to  Grow  It. 

114.  Experiment  Station  Work— XIV. 

118.  Grape  Growing  in  the  South. 

119.  Experiment  Station  Work — XV. 

120.  Insects  Affecting  Tobacco. 

121.  Beans,  Peas,  and  Other  Legumes  as  Food. 

122.  Experiment  Station  Work — XVI. 

126.  Practical  Suggestions  for  Farm  Buildings. 

127.  Important  Insecticides. 

128.  Eggs  and  Their  Uses  as  Food. 

131.  Household  Tests  for  Detection  of  Oleomar¬ 
garine  and  Renovated  Butter. 

133.  Experiment  Station  Work — XVIII. 

134.  Tree  Planting  on  Rural  School  Grounds. 

135.  Sorghum  Sirup  Manufacture. 

137.  The  Angora  Goat. 

138.  Irrigation  in  Field  and  Garden. 

139.  Emmer:  A  Grain  for  theSemiarid  Regions. 

140.  Pineapple  Growing. 

142.  Nutrition  and  Nutritive  Value  of  Food. 

144.  Experiment  Station  Work — XIX. 

145.  Carbon  Bisulphid  as  an  Insecticide. 

149.  Experiment  Station  Work — XX. 

150.  Clearing  New  Land. 

152.  -Scabies  of  Cattle. 

154.  Home  Fruit  Garden:  Preparation  and  Care. 

155.  How  Insects  Affect  Health  in  Rural  Districts. 

156.  The  Home  Vineyard. 


157.  The  Propagation  of  Plants. 

158.  How  to  Build  Small  Irrigation  Ditches. 

162.  Experiment  Station  Work— XXI. 

164.  Rape  as  a  Forage  Crop. 

166.  Cheese  Making  on  the  Farm. 

167.  Cassava. 

169.  Experiment  Station  Work— XXII. 

170.  Principles  of  Horse  Feeding. 

172.  Scale  Insects  and  Mites  on  Citrus  Trees. 

173.  Primer  of  Forestry.  Part  I:  The  Forest. 

174.  Broom  Corn. 

175.  Home  Manufacture  and  Use  of  Unfermeuted 

Grape  Juice. 

176.  Cranberry  Culture. 

177.  Squab  Raising. 

178.  Insects  Injurious  in  Cranberry  Culture. 

179.  Horseshoeing. 

181.  Pruning. 

182.  Poultry  as  Food. 

183.  Meat  on  the  Farm:  Butchering,  Curing,  etc. 

185.  Beautifying  the  Home  Grounds. 

186.  Experiment  Station  Work — XXIII. 

187.  Drainage  of  Farm  Lands. 

188.  Weeds  Used  in  Medicine. 

190.  Experiment  Station  Work— XXIV. 

192.  Barnyard  Manure. 

193.  Experiment  Station  Work — XXV. 

194.  Alfalfa  Seed. 

195.  Annual  Flowering  Plants. 

196.  Usefulness  of  the  American  Toad. 

197.  Importation  of  Game  Birds  and  Eggs  for 

Propagation. 

198.  Strawberries. 

200.  Turkeys. 

201.  Cream  Separator  on  Western  Farms. 

202.  Experiment  Station  Work— XXVI. 

203.  Canned  Fruits,  Preserves,  and  Jellies. 

204.  The  Cultivation  of  Mushrooms. 

205.  Pig  Management. 

206.  Milk  Fever  and  Its  Treatment. 

209.  Controlling  the  Boll  Weevil  in  Cotton  Seed 

and  at  Ginneries. 

210.  Experiment  Station  Work — XXVII. 

213.  Raspberries. 

218.  The  School  Garden. 

219.  Lessons  from  Grain  Rust  Epidemic  of  1904. 

220.  Tomatoes. 

221.  Fungous  Diseases  of  the  Cranberry. 

222.  Experiment  Station  Work— XXVIII. 

223.  Miscellaneous  Cotton  Insects  in  Texas. 

224.  Canadian  Field  Peas. 

225.  Experiment  Station  Work — XXIX. 

227.  Experiment  Station  Work — XXX. 

228.  Forest  Planting  and  Farm  Management. 

229.  The  Production  of  Good  Seed  Corn. 

231.  Spraying  for  Cucumber  and  Melon  Diseases. 

232.  Okra:  Its  Culture  and  Uses. 

233.  Experiment  Station  Work — XXXI. 

234.  The  Guinea  Fowl. 

235.  Preparation  of  Cement  Concrete. 

236.  Incubation  and  Incubators. 

237.  Experiment  Station  Work— XXXII. 

238.  Citrus  Fruit  Growing  in  the  Gulf  States. 

239.  The  Corrosion  of  Fence  Wire. 

241.  Butter  Making  on  the  Farm. 

242.  An  Example  of  Model  Farming. 

243.  Fungicides  and  Their  Use  in  Preventing  Dis¬ 

eases  of  Fruits. 

244.  Experiment  Station  Work— XXXIII. 

245.  Renovation  of  Worn-out  Soils. 

246.  Saccharine  Sorghums  for  Forage. 

248.  The  Lawn. 

249.  Cereal  Breakfast  Foods. 

250.  The  Prevention  of  Stinking  Smut  of  Wheat 

and  Loose  Smut  of  Oats. 


(I) 


II 


251.  Experiment  Station  Work — XXXIV. 

252.  Maple  Sugar  and  Sirup. 

253.  The  Germination  of  Seed  Corn. 

254.  Cucumbers. 

255.  The  Home  Vegetable  Garden. 

256.  Preparation  of  Vegetables  for  the  Table. 

257.  Soil  Fertility. 

258.  Texas  or  Tick  Fever  and  Its  Prevention. 

259.  Experiment  Station  Work — XXXV. 

260.  Seed  of  Red  Clover  and  Its  Impurities. 

262.  Experiment  Station  Work — XXXVI. 

263.  Information  for  Beginners  in  Irrigation. 

264.  The  Brown-tail  Moth  and  How  to  Control  It. 

266.  Management  of  Soils  to  Conserve  Moisture. 

267.  Experiment  Station  Work — XXXVII. 

269.  Industrial  Alcohol:  Uses  and  Statistics. 

270.  Modern  Conveniences  for  the  Farm  Home. 

271.  Forage  Crop  Practices  in  Western  Oregon 

and.  Western  Washington. 

272.  A  Successful  Hog  and  Seed-corn  Farm. 

273.  Experiment  Station  Work— XXXVIII. 

274.  Flax  Culture. 

275.  The  Gipsy  Moth  and  How  to  Control  It. 

276.  Experiment  Station  Work — XXXIX. 

277.  Alcohol  and  Gasoline  in  Farm  Engines. 

278.  Leguminous  Crops  for  Green  Manuring. 

279.  A  Method  of  Eradicating  Johnson  Grass. 

280.  A  Profitable  Tenant  Dairy  Farm. 

281.  Experiment  Station  Work — XL. 

282.  Celery. 

283.  Spraying  for  Apple  Diseases  and  the  Codling 

Moth  in  the  Ozarks. 

284.  Insect  and  Fungous  Enemies  of  the  Grape 

East  of  the  Rocky  Mountains. 

286.  Comparative  Value  of  Whole  Cotton  Seed 

and  Cotton-seed  Meal  in  Fertilizing  Cotton. 

287.  Poultry  Management. 

288.  Nonsaccharine  Sorghums. 

289.  Beans. 

290.  The  Cotton  Bollworm. 

291.  Evaporation  of  Apples. 

292.  Cost  of  Filling  Silos. 

293.  Use  of  Fruit  as  Food. 

294.  Farm  Practice  in  Columbia  Basin  Uplands. 

295.  Potatoes  and  Other  Root  Crops  as  Food. 

296.  Experiment  Station  Work — XLI. 

298.  Food  Value  of  Corn  and  Corn  Products. 

299.  Diversified  Farming  Under  the  Plantation 

System. 

301.  Home-grown  Tea. 

302.  Sea  Island  Cotton:  Its  Culture,  Improve¬ 

ment,  and  Diseases. 

303.  Corn  Harvesting  Machinery. 

304.  Growing  and  Curing  Hops. 

305.  Experiment  Station  Work — XLII. 

306.  Dodder  in  Relation  to  Farm  Seeds. 

307.  Roselle:  Its  Culture  and  Uses. 

309.  Experiment  Station  Work — XLIII. 

310.  A  Successful  Alabama  Diversification  Farm. 

311.  Sand-clay  and  Burnt-clay  Roads. 

312.  A  Successful  Southern  Hay  Farm. 

313.  Harvesting  and  Storing  Corn. 

314.  A  Method  of  Breeding  Early  Cotton  to  Es¬ 

cape  Boll-weevil  Damage. 

316.  Experiment  Station  Work— XLIV. 

317.  Experiment  Station  Work — XLV. 

318.  Cowpeas. 

319.  Demonstration  Work  in  Cooperation  with 

Southern  Farmers. 

320.  Experiment  Station  Work— XLVI. 

321.  The  Use  of  the  Split-log  Drag  on  Earth  Roads. 

322.  Milo  as  a  Dry-land  Grain  Crop. 

323.  Clover  Farming  on  the  Sandy  Jack-pine 

Lands  of  the  North. 

324.  Sweet  Potatoes. 

325.  Small  Farms  in  the  Corn  Belt. 

326.  Building  Up  a  Run-down  Cotton  Plantation. 

328.  Silver  Fox  Farming. 

329.  Experiment  Station  Work — XLVII. 

330.  Deer  Farming  in  the  United  States. 

331.  Forage  Crops  for  Hogs  in  Kansas  and  Okla¬ 

homa. 

332.  Nuts  and  Their  Uses  as  Food. 

333.  Cotton  Wilt. 

334.  Experiment  Station  Work — XLVIII. 

335.  Harmful  and  Beneficial  Mammals  of  the 

Arid  Interior. 

337.  Cropping  Systems  for  New  England  Dairy 
Farms. 


338.  Macadam  Roads. 

339.  Alfalfa. 

341.  The  Basket  Willow. 

342.  Experiment  Station  Work— XLIX. 

343.  The  Cultivation  of  Tobacco  in  Kentucky 

£tnd.  Tennessee 

344.  The  Boll  Weevil  Problem,  with  Special  Refer¬ 

ence  to  Means  of  Reducing  Damage. 

345.  Some  Common  Disinfectants. 

346.  The  Computation  jot  Rations  for  Farm  Ani¬ 

mals  by  the  Use  of  Energy  Values. 

347.  The  Repair  of  Farm  Equipment. 

348.  Bacteria  in  Milk. 

349.  The  Dairy  Industry  in  the  South. 

350.  The  Dehorning  of  Cattle. 

351.  TheTuberculinTestof CattleforTuberculosis. 

352.  The  Nevada  Mouse  Plague  of  1907-8. 

353.  Experiment  Station  Work — L. 

354.  Onion  Culture. 

355.  A  Successful  Poultry  and  Dairy  Farm. 

356.  Peanuts. 

357.  Methods  of  Poultry  Management  at  the  Maine 

Agricultural  Experiment  Station. 

358.  A  Primer  of  Forestry.  Part  II:  Practical  For¬ 

estry. 

359.  Canning  Vegetables  in  the  Home. 

360.  Experiment  Station  Work — LI. 

361.  Meadow  Fescue:  Its  Culture  and  Uses. 

362.  Conditions  AffectingtheValueofMarketHay. 

363.  The  Use  of  Milk  as  Food. 

364.  A  Profitable  Cotton  Farm. 

365.  Farm  Management  in  Northern  Potato¬ 

growing  Sections. 

366.  Experiment  Station  Work — LII. 

367.  Lightning  and  Lightning  Conductors. 

368.  The  Eradication  of  Bindweed,  or  Wild  Morn¬ 

ing-glory. 

369.  How  to  Destroy  Rats. 

370.  Replanning  a  Farm  for  Profit. 

371.  Drainage  of  Irrigated  Lands. 

372.  Soy  Beans. 

373.  Irrigation  of  Alfalfa. 

374.  Experiment  Station  Work — LIII. 

375.  Care  of  Food  in  the  Home. 

376.  Game  Laws  for  1909. 

377.  Harmfulness  of  Headache  Mixtures. 

378.  Methods  of  Exterminating  Texas-fever  Tick. 

379.  Hog  Cholera. 

380.  The  Loco-weed  Disease. 

381.  Experiment  Station  Work — LIV. 

382.  The  Adulteration  of  Forage-plant  Seeds. 

383.  How  to  Destroy  English  Sparrows. 

384.  Experiment  Station  Work — LV. 

385.  Boys’  and  Girls’  Agricultural  Clubs. 

386.  PotatoCultureon  Irrigated  Farmsof  the  West. 

387.  The  Preservative  Treatmentof  Farm  Timbers. 

388.  Experiment  Station  Work— L VI. 

389.  Bread  and  Bread  Making. 

390.  Pheasant  Raising  in  the  United  States. 

391.  Economical  Use  of  Meat  in  the  Home. 

392.  Irrigation  of  Sugar  Beets. 

393.  Habit-forming  Agents. 

394.  Windmills  in  Irrigation  in  Semiarid  West. 

395.  Sixty-day  and  Kherson  Oats. 

396.  The  Muskrat. 

397.  Bees. 

398.  Farm  Practice  in  the  Use  of  Commercial  Fer¬ 

tilizers  in  the  South  Atlantic  States. 

399.  Irrigation  of  Grain. 

400.  A  More  Profitable  Corn-planting  Method. 

401.  Protection  of  Orchards  in  Northwest  from 

Spring  Frosts  by  Fires  and  Smudges. 

402.  Canada  Bluegrass:  Its  Culture  and  Uses. 

403.  The  Construction  of  Concrete  Fence  Posts. 

404.  Irrigation  of  Orchards. 

405.  Experiment  Station  Work — LVII. 

406.  Soil  Conservation. 

407.  School  Exercises  in  Plant  Production. 

408.  The  Potato  as  a  Truck  Crop. 

409.  School  Lessons  on  Corn. 

410.  Potato  Culls  for  Industrial  Alcohol. 

411.  Feeding  Hogs  in  the  South. 

412.  Experiment  Station  Work — LVIII. 

413.  Care  of  Milk  and  its  Use  in  the  Home. 

414.  Corn  Cultivation. 

415.  Seed  Corn. 

416.  Cigar-leaf  Tobacco  in  Pennsylvania. 


o 


